All the Pretty Princess Patterns

Princess patterns are pretty. But this file is concerned only with the pattern's name, not the various designs cut by companies that produced patterns named Princess. There is no doubt that the name was a popular one. Four Princesses were introduced from 1893 to 1895, at least one a year. But before taking a look at these Princesses, let us consider the Princess patterns that were available before 1893, as well as those that came after 1895.

At least two Princess patterns precede 1893: The more famous one, thanks to the detective work of Bill Evans, who identified the pattern in 1994 (note 1), is T. G. Hawkes' patented Princess pattern of 1888 (patent no. 18,301). According to Spillman (1996, p. 186) the pattern was already in production the previous year. The second Princess pattern was introduced by the Phoenix Glass Company of Monaca, PA in 1890, but an illustration of it has yet to be found (note 2).

After 1895 there are at least three additional Princesses: Again, it is Hawkes' version that is the most well-known: His Princess (now called Princess II to distinguish it from the earlier, patented pattern) is a member of the company's "royal family" -- which includes the Queens and Kings patterns -- all members of which were introduced shortly after the turn of the twentieth century (Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, p. 97). The second Princess pattern is one that was being cut by the A. L. Blackmer Company of New Bedford, MA in 1906 (ACGA catalog reprint, 1982). Also, at about this time, the last of the Princess patterns appeared, given birth by the Liberty Cut Glass Works of Egg Harbor City, NJ. But this Princess is not of royal blood -- she is an impostor! The pattern is simply a re-naming of Quaker City Cut Glass Company's Ellsmere pattern.

The Liberty Cut Glass Works had strong ties to the Quaker City company (note 3). Liberty's c1905 catalog provides several items that are identical in both pattern and shape to items in a Quaker City catalog of about this date. What has been changed are the names -- and the prices. As explained in a Liberty sales brochure, the consumer could realize "A SAVINGS OF 40 PER CENT" because "we have adopted the plan of selling DIRECT FROM THE WORKS TO THE HOME". In other words: no middlemen. Although the Quaker City Cut Glass Company is not mentioned in the brochure, it is their cut-glass prices to which the discount was applied. Today, Liberty would be regarded as a factory outlet, although it also cut glass. For several items it is impossible to tell whether they were cut by Liberty or by Quaker City.

With the foregoing out of the way, we can now focus on the so-called princess period of 1893-1895 and reveal what we now know -- and don't know -- about the individual patterns. Our primary source is an old friend: yes, it is Dorothy Daniel (1950) who identifies the following four Princesses:

1. "'Dorflinger's Princess' - designed by James J. O'Connor and cut by C. Dorflinger & Sons, White Mills, PA in 1893." When she was writing her book, Daniel was in correspondence with James J. O'Connor, Jr., the designer's son. He undoubtedly supplied this information as well as the information contained in no. 3, below. This Princess pattern was first advertised as one of "two entirely new patterns" in the 8 Feb 1893 issue of The Jeweler's Circular, p. 90, where it is not illustrated. Coincidentally, James J. O'Connor also designed the Colonial pattern during 1893, assigning the patent (no. 22,581) to his employer.

2. "'Pairpoint's Princess' - designed by Thomas Singleton, Jr. and cut by the Pairpoint Glass Company, New Bedford, MA in 1894." This pattern, whether patented or not, presents a problem in identification. Thomas Singleton, Jr. patented no less than three patterns during 1894. The first two were assigned by him to the Mt. Washington Glass Company. The third patent, however, was assigned to the Pairpoint Manufacturing Company because "On July 14, 1894, the Mt. Washington Glass Company . . . became part of the Pairpoint Manufacturing Company" (Avila 1978, p. 75). The Pairpoint Manufacturing Company, and later the Pairpoint Corporation, are sometimes informally referred to as the Pairpoint Glass Company. This is what Daniel has done. Strictly speaking, therefore, only the third patent (no. 23,761) could possibly qualify as a patented "Princess" pattern because only it was assigned to Pairpoint. This patent, however, has always been known as Priscilla -- the name and pattern are found in an early "Pairpoint" catalog, according to Revi (1965, p. 57). For the record, the first two Singleton patents granted during 1894 are Magnolia (no. 23,496) which Revi calls "Fan and Diamond" and Admiral (no. 23,497) which Revi calls "Ox-bow". No sign of a Princess anywhere, even when the search is broadened to include non-patented patterns.

   Daniel undoubtedly obtained her information about "Pairpoint's Princess" from Thomas A. Tripp (1857-1953), a long-time officer of the company and an authority on its history. She acknowledges him in her Preface. Daniel always seemed to know whom to contact for information when she was writing her book. Unfortunately, however, she did not always receive accurate information from her correspondents. One can recall her experience with Samuel Hawkes concerning Hawkes' Russian and Princess ("Devonshire") patterns. Perhaps this is the situation here. In any case, we have to conclude that there seems never to have been a Princess in the Pairpoint household.

3. "'O'Connor's Princess' - designed by A. E. O'Connor and cut by John S. O'Connor, Hawley, PA in 1895. Daniel was the first to indicate this name, which she probably obtained from James J. O'Connor, Jr., a cousin of the designer, Arthur E. O'Connor, who was the son of John S. O'Connor, owner of the cut-glass works. Revi also calls the pattern "Princess", information he could have obtained either from Daniel's book or from contact with the O'Connor/Cusik families. Unfortunately, he does not indicate whether or not "Princess" is a catalog name. Other names provided by Revi for patterns cut by O'Connor are suspect. For example, he gives the name "Star" to two distinctly different patterns (Revi 1965, pp. 320-1).

   J. Michael Pearson had access to Daniel's book, but not Revi's, when he wrote his first book (1965). He ignores the name "Princess", as found in Daniel, and supplies his own name, "Split Square", a name he retaines in subsequent books. Today, "Split Square" is heard almost as frequently as "Princess". While the pattern's true name might be "Princess", until incontrovertible evidence is discovered quotation marks should be used. The writer admits, however, that "Princess" looks more and more like the official name for Arthur's pattern. It was patented in 1895 as no. 24,060.

4. "'Libbey's Princess'- designed by William C. Anderson and cut by the Libbey Glass Company, Toledo, OH in 1895." Daniel correctly names this pattern, as does everyone who followed her. As patent no. 24,874, the pattern has always been called Princess.

Oddly, Daniel comments (p. 269) that nos. 1-3, above, are "variations" that have "acknowledged their debt to the standard pattern [that is, no. 4] by name". How can this be? Nos. 1-3 preceded the standard, including no. 3 whose patent was granted several months before no. 4's!

Nine pretty Princess patterns, including one that is an impostor and one that is missing! If the reader is aware of any additional Princess, he should contact the writer at jmhavens99 at hotmail dot com, and they will be included.

NOTES:

1. Evans, Bill, 1994: Desperately seeking "Devonshire", The Hobstar, Vol. 16, No. 9, pp. 1, 6-8 (Jun).

2. Howe, Ken, 2002: The Phoenix Glass Company. The Hobstar, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 12-16 (Feb) and No. 6, pp. 6-12 (Mar). For corrections to this article, please see the howe1.htm file in Part 1.

3. Walker, Bud, 2001: Liberty Cut Glass Works, Glass Collector's Digest, pp. 78-83 (Dec-Jan). Also, Mucha, M. E., 1986: Quaker City, hand finish. The Glass Club Bulletin, No. 149, pp. 9-11 (Spring). An account of the Quaker City Cut Glass Company that does not mention the Liberty Cut Glass Works.

Updated 26 Feb 2005