This file contains design patents issued for cut and engraved patterns. In addition, one "shape" patent is listed -- a "squat" carafe designed by the J. D. Bergen Company -- as a matter of interest.
Patent specifications and drawings are available at the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site. Insert the letter D before the patent number when filling out the request box. Example: D27060.
A catalog is listed only if its existence is confirmed. Many catalogs are listed as reprints, but a few of these are out-of-print. A CMG f-number indicates that the catalog, or a near-copy of it, is available at the Rakow Library, Corning Museum of Glass. American Cut Glass Association publications are available from acgakathy@aol.com
Information about these companies is based mainly on AMERICAN CUT AND ENGRAVED GLASS by A. C. Revi (1965), updated by using "Additional Sources". Illustrated trademarks have been taken from Revi and from Antique & Collectors Reproduction News, Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 8-12, for the most part. Only trademarks known to have been acid-etched on glass are shown; trademarks found only on paper labels and in advertising copy are not illustrated.
All patents were assigned by their patentees to the respective companies -- or to the individuals named -- except those marked with an asterisk (*). These patents remained with the patentees.
Following a long period of employment at the Libbey Glass Company and its predecessor, the New England Glass Company, William C. Anderson founded this company in 1897. At this time the company was located in Chicago; later it relocated to Lansing, MI where it closed in 1914. Most of the patterns cut by the company were probably designed by Anderson. All of the patented patterns were created by him, with one exception. No catalog has been found for the American Cut Glass Company; therefore, only assigned pattern names are given in the list of patented patterns below. Likewise, no trademark has been found for the company.
Refrerence:
Emmerson, Leigh, 2000/2001: The legacy of William C. Anderson. Part 1, The Hobstar, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 4-8; [Part 2], The Hobstar, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 8-10; [Part 3]. The Hobstar, Vol. 24, No.2, pp. 4-7.
27,060 / "Fan Border" / William C. Anderson / 20 Mar 1897 / 18 May 1897
27,061 / "Star Rosetta" / William C. Anderson / 20 Mar 1897 / 18 May 1897
27,062 / "Radiant Star" / William C. Anderson / 20 Mar 1897 / 18 May 1897
27,063 / "Kite" / William C. Anderson / 20 Mar 1897 / 18 May 1897
30,267 / "Pin Wheel" / Patrick H. Healy / 19 Dec 1898 / 28 Feb 1899
36,738 / "Triumph" / William C. Anderson / 14 Dec 1903 / 19 Jan 1904
36,739 / "Lansing" / William C. Anderson / 14 Dec 1903 / 19 Jan 1904
36,836 / "Jewelled Star" / William C. Anderson / 8 Feb 1904 / 8 Mar 1904
36,865 / "Mary" / William C. Anderson / 23 Feb 1904 / 5 Apr 1904
38,492 / "Amelia" / William C. Anderson / 28 Feb 1907 / 26 Mar 1907 (*)
41,413 / "Fern" / William C. Anderson / 10 Dec 1910 / 30 May 1911
Nappy cut in the patented "Lansing" pattern by the American Cut Glass Company. Design patent no. 36,739. D = 10" (25.4 cm), H = 2" (5.1 cm), wt = 4.5 lb (2.0 kg). Sold for $200 in 1986.
The company, which operated during its first six years as Bergen and Niland, had its headquarters in Meriden, CT. It is said that James D. Bergen learned the cut-glass business in New York City and Brooklyn and at the Mt. Washington and New England Glass Companies. His company was sold to William B. Bartley about 1913, and Bergen died in 1919, after being associated with the Bergen Cut Glass Company of St. Louis, MO for a few years. The complete Bergen trademark is shown on the right. A simplified version was sometimes acid-etched on the company's glassware, but an illustration of it is not available at the present time. The two hemispheres acknowledge operation of a Bergen factory in Stourbridge, England in addition to three in the United States: Meriden, CT and Brooklyn and Port Jarvis, NY. An acid-etched script signature, Bergen, has also been reported.
21,050 / Plymouth / James D. Bergen / 13 Aug 1891 / 22 Sep 1891 (*)
21,681 / Portland / James D. Bergen / 23 Feb 1892 / 5 Jul 1892
23,316 / "Sunflower" / James D. Bergen / 15 Jan 1894 / 29 May 1894
23,317 / "White Rose" / James D. Bergen / 15 Jan 1894 / 29 May 1894
24,127 / "Elegance" / Paul Seitlinger and James D. Bergen / 4 Feb 1895 / 19 Mar 1895
24,511 / "Ozone" / James D. Bergen / 3 Jun 1895 / 30 Jul 1895
27,457 / Crescent / James D. Bergen / 21 Jun 1897 / 3 Aug 1897 (note 1)
33,987 / (shape) / James D. Bergen / 29 Dec 1900 / 29 Jan 1901 (*)
61,616 / "Prism Flowers" / William B. Bartley / 16 Nov 1921 / 31 Oct 1922
Three views of a spoon tray, shape 720, cut in Bergen's patented "Elegance" pattern of 1895. L = 7" (17.8 cm), w = 4.25" (10.7 cm), h = 2.1 cm (5.4 cm). Damage includes "five teeth with small chips and one tooth that is partly missing". Sold at an eBay auction for $57 in 2007.
[1904 Bergen - Bosworth Catalog] THE J. D. BERGEN CO., MANUFACTURERS OF RICH CUT GLASSWARE (title repeated from 1893 catalog). An excerpt taken from the third salesman's catalog produced by the F. L. Bosworth Company, Minneapolis, MN. American Cut Glass Association, 2002 (xvi + 80 pp.).
Henry Clay Fry was associated with several nineteenth century glasshouses in the Pittsburgh, PA area, including the Rochester Tumbler Company. Although it has been said that Fry obtained the first cut-glass design patent that was granted in this country, in 1868, some observers now believe that this patent was for pressed glass, not cut glass. Cut glass was, however, produced at the Rochester Tumbler Company, from 1872 until the plant was destroyed by fire in 1900. The following year Fry established the H. C. Fry Glass Company (originally called the Rochester Glass Company), a full-range facility where cutting began in 1902. For many years the company supplied blanks -- both plain and "figured" -- to numerous cutting shops around the country. Also in 1902 the peripatetic Fry became associated with the Empire Cut Glass Company, originally of NYC, but the company relocated to Flemington, NJ in 1904. This association continued until at least 1922 when color-cased blanks were produced at Rochester and cut by Empire (and perhaps at the Rochester plant as well). Today, identical cut-glass patterns can be found in the catalogs of these two companies. When this occurs only items that carry a Fry trademark can be attributed with certainty to the H. C. Fry Glass Company. (The Empire Cut Glass Company registered at least one trademark, but it apparently was used, if at all, only on paper labels.) The Fry trademark shown above, on the right, is the one usually found acid-etched on glass, but it is said that this script signature can also be found enclosed within a shield.
The company produced some unusual "show" pieces of cut glass early in its history, including a 31"H vase in the Sunbeam pattern (1902), a four-and-a-half foot tall punch bowl and stand in an unnamed pattern (1905), and a cut-glass replica of the Liberty Bell (1906). The quality of Fry cut glass was excellent during these years, but it deteriorated soon thereafter. Many collectors believe that the highly-regarded reputation that Fry cut glass has today is, in general, somewhat over-stated. The company's use of "figured" blanks is especially regrettable. The H. C. Fry Glass Company went out of business in 1933, four years after the death of its founder.
The following "cut" appears in an "old magazine" that was published in 1905. It shows the company's Rochester pattern on blank no. 4054, a jug. The pattern name "Rochester" has also been assigned by some researchers to the pattern that is cut on the monumental Fry punch bowl that was exhibited at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, OR in 1905. The pattern on the punch bowl does not match the Rochester pattern illustrated here.
Reference:
H. C. Fry Glass Society, 1990: THE COLLECTOR'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FRY GLASSWARE. Collector Books, Paducah, KY, 207 pp.
[c1901-c1905 Catalog] BLANKS: HAND-MADE, BLOWN AND MOULDED. American Cut Glass Association, 1997, 30 pp.
[c1908 Catalog] CUT GLASS CATALOGUE (as issued in Bremen, Germany). In the Fry Glass Society reference above, pp. 192-202.
39,993 / "Aster" / Harry Haden / 16 Nov 1908 / 18 May 1909
44,914 / "Daisy" / Harry Buckley / 25 Sep 1913 / 25 Nov 1913
50,334 / "Flower Basket" / Fred. L. Andrews / 2 Aug 1916 / 20 Feb 1917
50,458 / "Prism" / Fred. L. Andrews / 15 Jan 1916 / 20 Mar 1917
50,459 / "Prism and Flute" / Fred. L. Andrews / 19 Jan 1916 / 20 Mar 1917
Little definitive information is available for this company. There is no record of a trademark.
17,086 / "Hobnails & Rosettes" / Daniel Forbes / 4 Dec 1886 / 8 Feb 1887 (*)
19,642 / "MacBeth" / Daniel Forbes / 9 Nov 1889 / 11 Feb 1890 (assigned to George H. Hibbler)
22,662 / "Star of David" / Daniel Forbes / 10 May 1893 / 1 Aug 1893 (*)
22,663 / "Rose Point" / Daniel Forbes / 10 May 1893 / 1 Aug 1893 (*)
Principal sources: Sinclaire and Spillman 1997; Smith and Smith 2003, Book 2
Thomas Taylor Hunt, an Englishman from Lancashire, immigrated to this country to take employment as a glass cutter at the Dorflinger Glass Company about 1878. Two or three years later he moved to Corning and began cutting glass at the newly established Hawkes Rich Cut Glass Works. It is generally believed that Hunt's son, Harry S., learned his trade as a glass cutting at the Hawkes factory. In 1895 the Hunts left Hawkes to establish their own cutting shop, initially in partnership with Daniel Sullivan and later in association with his nephew, James Sullivan. In 1907 James Sullivan was bought out by the Hunts, father and son, and the Hunt & Sullivan company became known as the Hunt Glass Company. Thomas Taylor Hunt died on 14 Apri 1909, at which time Harry S. became the company's president.
The earliest company invoice that is extant is dated 20 Apr 1909; although Hunt senior had died, it still lists him as president, along with M. E. Hunt (Mrs. Thos. T. Hunt) as vice-president, and Harry S. Hunt as secretary and treasurer. The next invoice that is available is dated 13 Jul of the same year. It lists Harry S. as president, N. M. Fuller as vice-president, and C. L. Hunt as secretary and treasurer. N. M. Fuller (Mrs. Fred Fuller) also acted as business manager at this time until she left "to found a company of her own, but this firm probably subcontracted for Hunt" (Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, p. 126). This could have occurred by 23 Jan 1914. An invoice with this date has her name and position blacked out. Subsequent invoices, the last dated 6 Jul 1915, list only the company's president, H. S. Hunt and its teasurer, C. L. Hunt.
Harry S. Hunt died in 1935 and his son-in-law, Walter Sullivan (unrelated to the earlier Sullivans) became president. After the Second World War Walter Sullivan's sons, Walter Jr., John, and eventually Thomas J., joined the company. At this time the post-brilliant period of American cut glass had passed and the "decline in business that had begun in the 1950s continued and deepened." (Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, p. 130) After 1970 the heirs of Harry Hunt's son-in-law, the later Sullivans, eventually lost control of the company, and the factory closed about 1973, an event that "went virtually unnoticed in Corning" (Sinclaire and Spillman 1977, p. 130).
The illustrated trademark, above on the right, is said to have been acid-etched on glass from 1906 to about 1915. In later years it was used on paper labels.
41,555 / Royal / Harry S. Hunt / 15 Apr 1911 / 11 Jul 1911 (*)
Complete list of patterns in the foregoing catalog: Aldine, Avon, Brazilian, Century, Colonial, Chrysanthemum, Corona, Diana, Empress, Hudson, Iris, Mascot, Nevada, Peerless W. R., Primrose, Queen, Regal, Reliance, Rome, Royal, Royal W. R., Special, Stafford, Star, Starlight, Vera, and Century. Century, however, has been crossed out and the name Celtic added in script in this copy of the catalog. The letters W. R. stand for Wild Rose(s). When added to the Peerless and Royal patterns, which are entirely geometric, two new patterns that include stone-wheel engravings of wild roses are created. The catalog contains several examples of the entirely geometric Royal pattern, but it does not include a single example of the entirely geometric Peerless pattern, a pattern that most likely was also cut by the company. Note that the list of patterns that is given on page 131 of the 1997 edition of THE COMPLETE CUT AND ENGRAVED GLASS OF CORNING by Sinclaire and Spillman is incomplete. Several patterns are missing. And one, Peerless, should have been listed as Peerless W. R.
Hunt's Diana pattern, often unsigned, can easily be mistaken for unsigned Tuthill. This 9" (22.9 cm) D bowl, h = 3.75" (9.5 cm), was offered for sale as an "incredible Tuthill brilliant cut glass bowl" on eBay during 2006. Fortunately, the starting bid, $1,525, failed to attract a single buyer so the item did not sell. Fortunately, because had it sold, an injustice would have been done.
42,332 / "Diamond Floral" / Henry R. Luckock / 7 Dec 1911 / 19 Mar 1912
42,333 / Aberdeen / Charles H. Taylor and Henry R. Luckock / 7 Dec 1911 / 19 Mar 1912
42,334 / Emerald / Charles H. Taylor and Henry R. Luckock / 7 Dec 1911 / 19 Mar 1912
42,335 / "Primrose" / Charles H. Taylor and Henry R. Luckock / 7 Dec 1911 / 19 Mar 1912
42,336 / "Primrose Variant" / Charles H. Taylor and Henry R. Luckock / 7 Dec 1911 / 19 Mar 1912
In 1912, on 19 March to be exact, four patents for cut-glass patterns, designed by Henry R. Luckock and Charles H. Taylor, were granted by the U. S. Patent Office. The patentees assigned their patents to the Jewel Cut Glass Company of Newark, NJ. Two of the patents, nos. 42,333 and 42,334, have long been considered to represent designs of high quality, expertly realized. The story of their names is interesting -- not least because it can be told in some detail -- and is typical of the changing pattern names that dealers and collectors frequently encounter.
The veteran cut-glass enthusiast is not surprised when he finds that a particular pattern has more than one name, although only one is official. Lacking catalogs, early investigators all-too-often were forced to be creative and assign a name that could be used to identify a particular pattern temporarily, until its true -- that is, official catalog -- name could is discovered. Today, when the true name is often known, this assigned name often hangs around like a guest who has overstayed his welcome. Worse, the name is frequently presented without the quotation marks that indicate its temporary status. The examples in this file have each had three different names, two assigned names and one official name.
Neither of these patterns is mentioned in Dorothy Daniel's book, published in 1950. Regrettably, Daniel's interest waned somewhat by the time these patterns were cut, probably because she had self-imposed a cut-off date of 1905 for the brilliant period. The patterns cut by the Jewel company first appeared in books that were published in 1965: by C. A. Revi and by J. Michael and Dorothy T. Pearson, respectively. Revi does not acknowledge the Pearsons in his book and the Pearsons do not mention Revi in theirs. Was this a horse race between these successors to Daniel's pioneering work?
The following is a close-up of the fine-line cutting on no. 42,334. Althoughg this indicates that the cane motif is called for, an actual example of this pattern, shown in Pearson's ENCYCLOPEDIA (Vol. 3, p. 71), substitues hobnail (hence Pearson's assigned name for this pattern in 1965).
Revi 1965, p. 227:
No. 42,333 - "Regency": "A design we have named 'Regency' is a superb blend of brilliantly cut rosettes (i.e., hobstars) and plain flutes."No. 42,334 - "Empire": "Another triumph of simple elegance, consisting of fine diamond cutting and flutes; we have named it 'Empire'."
Pearson and Pearson 1965, p. 106:
No. 42,333 - "Flutes and Hobstar (Chain)"
No. 42,334 - "Flutes and Hobnail (Chain)""It is very much [to the credit of the patentees] that these patterns, which must have been very expensive to produce, should be attempted at a time when cheaper pressed cuts were being made in competition."
In spite of its name most of the silver mounts used on Meriden cut glass are made of solid silver and, therefore, carry the Wilcox sterling silver hallmark. It is reasonable to assume that any cut glass so mounted was cut by the Meriden Cut Glass Company. Although a trademark exists for this company it has not been found acid-etched on glass. It was probably used only in advertising copy, although a paper label can not be ruled out.
32,210 / "Byzantine" / William R. Eliot / 15 Jan 1900 / 13 Feb 1900
32,211 / "Theodora" / William R. Eliot / 15 Jan 1900 / 13 Feb 1900
41,091 / Alhambra / Thomas A. Shanley / 14 Nov 1910 / 17 Jan 1911
41,833 / Helenic Cutting / Albert Turner / 26 Jul 1911 / 10 Oct 1911
44,114 / Shirley / Thomas A. Shanley / 7 Mar 1913 / 27 May 1913
45,276 / "Turner" / Albert Turner / 24 Nov 1913 / 17 Feb 1914
50,959 / Beverly / Thomas A. Shanley / 5 Apr 1917 / 19 Jun 1917
51,938 / Patrician / Thomas A. Shanley / 12 Jan 1918 / 2 Apr 1918
A pitcher cut in William R. Eliot's "Theodora" pattern whose patent was assigned to the International Silver Company. 32-pt hobstar on base. H = 8" (20.3 cm), base D = 6.5" (16.5 cm), wt = 5 lb (2.3 kg). Auctioned during 2007 on eBay where it failed to sell at $905.
International Silver Company's Alhambra pattern, cut by Meriden, is an example of high-quality cut glass that was produced quite late in the brilliant period (1911). Here are close-ups of Thomas A. Shanley's design cut on a bowl: D = 10.0" (25.4 cm), rim D = 4.3" (10.9 cm), wt = 5.9 lb (2.7 kg). The bowl was "bought in" at an eBay auction in 2002 when the bidding reached "only" $1,180 which was less than the seller's reserve price (Image: Internet).
Pitkin & Brooks was a china and glass business in Chicago that began operating in 1872 and was incorporated in 1891. The company established a cutting shop at Bowling Green, OH, known as the Ohio Cut Glass Company (from sometime before 1904 to 1912) and also one at Valparaiso, IN (1911-1918). The Bowling Green factory probably provided most of the company's cut glass, but inventory was likely supplemented with purchases from independent, local cutters and from abroad. Pitkin & Brooks apparently had a business association with the H. C. Fry Glass Company but details are lacking. The company went out of business about 1920, soon after the death of its senior partner, Edward Hand Pitkin.
Apparently the only trademark found acid-etched on glass is the one shown above, on the right. At least one other trademark, more elaborately designed ("Diamond cut glass / P&B") has been found in the company's catalogs. It could have been used on a paper label and in advertising copy.
32,948 / Belmont / William H. Shanley / 24 Nov 1899 / 17 Jul 1900
38,422 / "Heart and Hob Star" / Harry H. Buckley / 23 Nov 1906 / 22 Jan 1907
44,753 / "Korea" / William P. Feeney / 7 Aug 1913 / 21 Oct 1913
44,754 / "Wild Daisy" / William P. Feeney / 7 Aug 1913 / 21 Oct 1913
45,188 / "Phena Star" / William P. Feeney / 1 Dec 1913 / 3 Feb 1914
[Compilation Catalog, 1897-1909]: PITKIN & BROOKS RICH CUT GLASS. Six individual catalogs bound together for the years 1897, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1908, and 1909. American Cut Glass Association, 2005, xlii + n. p. (Each catalog is paged separately.). Plus, SUPPLEMENTARY PATTERN INFORMATION. American Cut Glass Association, 2005, 16 pp. + 40 pp.
NOTE:
1. For many years the Crescent pattern was known by its "coined" name, "Dauntless". Confusingly the Belgian company Val St. Lambert also cut this pattern which it named 1897/13386. Gerry LaCroix has discussed this problem in detail in the following two articles that have appeared in the ACGA's publication The Hobstar: Bergen's "Dauntless" pattern, Vol. 27, No. 6, pp. 4462-3 (Mar 2005) and "Crescent" pattern misnamed as "Dauntless", Vol. 27, No. 9, p. 4518 (Jun 2005).
Updated 1 Aug 2007