By Joan S. Wilson — The sweeping tendency to dismiss all American glass manufactured after 1850 as a cheap commercial product is passing out of fashion. Articles and books on the subject are partially responsible for the change of opinion but the real explanation is that much of this glass has won the esteem of discriminating collectors. There are numerous collections which support this conclusion, one of the finest just having been placed on exhibition in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of...

Sandwich Lacy Goblets

By Dr. Charles W. Green — Whether or not Sandwich produced lacy glass goblets during its early period is a subject that interests collector and dealer alike. Excavations at the factory site have unearthed lacy goblet fragments of such character in metal and workmanship as to put the question beyond dispute. In the haze that up to a few years ago surrounded identification of lacy specimens of many forms, it was common guess-work to attribute French origin to unfamiliar specimens, to any of exceeding brilliancy,...

Figured Glassware and Where It Came From

By Ruth Webb Lee — Many times I have seen people ask, with a smirk and a quizzical look in their eye, "Where does all the old glass come from? Certainly you cannot claim all the pieces seen in all the antique shops are genuine." Those who put this question in the manner they do, are almost without fail amateurs who have never collected anything themselves. Of course there are fakes in every line of "collectioning," but those who are serious and study, soon detect the spurious. While searching through my...

Marked and Lacy Sandwich Salt Dishes

By Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee — Greater variety of form and decoration are to be found in salt cellars than in any other piece of tableware made by American glassworkers. Over a thousand different designs are known to collectors and others are still being found. They range from 18th-Century examples, blown in clear or colored glass by Stiegel or Wistar workmen, to small individual dishes of the pattern-glass decades. Outstanding for variety are those contemporary with Lacy Sandwich glass. The technique of pressing...

Lacy Sandwich Glass in Color

By Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee — Lacy Sandwich glass was one of the earliest, if not the first, of the industrial arts produced in the United States. Essentially, it was highly decorated ware for the dining table produced in quantity from carefully cut molds and sold at popular prices. The genius behind it was Deming Jarves, who started his own venture in glassmaking at Sandwich on Cape Cod in 1825, fifty-three miles from Boston. In the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, with its factory located in a heavily wooded...

A One of a Kind Goblet Collection

By Mary Willis Shuey — There is twelve times as much fun in one-of-a-kind collecting, according to the devotees of the mixed dozen! Goblets, tumblers, sauce dishes – so many things can be collected in the one-of-a-kind manner, and a table set in mixed patterns has charm that lasts far past the dinner hour. The goblets pictured are from the collection of Mrs. John L. Scales of Shreveport, Louisiana. She is a most enthusiastic one-of-a-kind collector, for she insists that this is the only possible way in...

Selected Rarities in Lacy Glass

By Ruth Webb Lee — In every branch of Sandwich collectibles, there are exceptional pieces which are interesting to collectors, either from a standpoint of rarity or historical association. Among the Lacy Sandwich examples there are a few outstanding pieces which, for one reason or another, are of particular interest and therefore should receive special treatment. Curiously enough, all of the items selected for this group are somewhat miscellaneous in character. There are three large oblong dishes, four...

The Colors and Forms of Early American Pattern Glass

By Maribeth Keane — My mother was our inspiration for collecting pattern glass. She collected it, and she died at a very young age. My sister and I inherited it and my aunt said not to sell anything until we were older. She had some good stuff. My sister called me one day telling me she found a goblet in the pattern that mother had, so I decided to look. The first pieces we found were some wine glasses. Once you find a treasure, it’s what gets you started. You figure out that you can identify something of value...