American Cut Glass Association (ACGA) - Jim Havens' "Guide to American Brilliant Cut Glass"

Introduction to Cut and Engraved Glass

and a Suggested Chronology of Cut- and Engraved-Glass Periods

Quality American cut glass was referred to as RICH-CUT GLASS in American advertisements as early as 1819 (Wilson 1972, p. 207), while ads for imported rich-cut glass were published in this country as early as 1810 (Spillman 1985, p. 319). The term continued to be used through-out the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, although it was used less often after the First World War. (The header above has been taken from an 1896 ad run by L. Straus & Sons, NYC.)

Today, we interpret the term "rich cut" to mean that an item has been extensively cut with the miter wheel -- "cut to pieces" to use the vernacular. But it should be noted that history provides exceptions to this interpretation. Here are two instances where glass that has been fully cut in the broad-flute style, or in a variation of it, were contemporaneously described as rich-cut glass:

• Wheeling, WV, late 1840s. The company T. Sweeney & Son was awarded a gold medal at the Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Maryland Instute, Baltimore in 1853. In write-ups concerning Sweeney's exhibit there is mention of the company's "large cut glass vase -- worth $2000", which was completely cut in the broad-flute style. It was made in the late 1840s and was similar to the famous covered punch bowl in broad-flute style that was also made by Sweeney and is now displayed at the Oglebay Institute (pictured in Revi 1965, p. 366). The exhibition committee described the "vase", which we would call a covered punch bowl today, as follows: "The cut glass vase is a very rich and very superior specimen of glass cutting and possesses a very high degree of excellence" (Baker 1994, p. 34).

• Sandwich, MA, 1878. Plate no. 50 in the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company catalog of 1878 (which has been re-dated from c1874 by Nelson 1998, p. 43) shows a three-tier compote that is completely cut in a variation of the broad-flute style that incorporates flutes and bullseyes, yet the catalog refers to it as "rich cut". Additionally, it is, by far, the most expensive item in the catalog. (Could this "rich cut fruit and flower stand" possibly be a foreign import?)

A New England Glass Company catalog, dating from the mid 1880s, differentiates between glass labeled "rich-cut" and ordinary "cut glass". The catalog's photographs suggest that the former term was applied to glass that was more elaborately and deeply cut than ordinary "cut glass". And it was, of course, more expensive.

During the time when the expression "rich-cut glass" was in use, the term probably also carried a connotation of quality. One never reads about "quality rich-cut glass". Such an expression would have been redundant. The term "rich-cut glass" should be used today in a general sense, describing high-quality, fully-cut glass produced by the glass industry, foreign as well as domestic, during a period of more than one hundred years, beginning about 1810.

Estelle Sinclaire Farrar and Jane Shadel Spillman, the co-authors of THE COMPLETE CUT & ENGRAVED GLASS OF CORNING (1979), which provides an excellent introduction to the subject, also contributed summary articles to the magazine Art & Antiques in 1981 and 1979, espectively. Although somewhat dated, both accounts consider the changing styles of American cut glass during the nineteenth century and are well worth reading today (note 1).

The characteristics that define the style that is recognized as American brilliant-period cut glass have been enumerated by Thomas A. Crawford, Jr. (1989) who would eventually call the style a "fashion". To the following list of Crawford's, the writer has added representative patterns in parentheses:

• Use of curved miters to segment the overall design (e.g., Marcella by Libbey).

• Cutting of differing motifs to fill the segments (interstices) (e.g., Tuxedo by O'Connor).

• Deep cutting for a maximum prismatic effect, sometimes also resulting in a 3-D or sculptural appearance (e.g., Crystal City by Hoare).

• Varying the depths of the cutting (e.g., Panel by Hawkes).

• Utilization of thick and heavy blanks (e.g., Victoria by Libbey).

According to the foregoing, it can be concluded that brilliant-period cut glass -- as distinct from brilliant-cut glass -- is a style of rich-cut glass where the curved miter cut is given prominence and interstices, produced by intersecting miter cuts, are filled with different motifs, sometimes as many as four or five different kinds (e. g., fans, hobnails. strawberry [fine] diamonds, Russian, etc.) and sometimes together with other characteristics (see above). The style was particularly popular during the co-called Gilded Age, from about 1885 (especially after the Columbian Exposition of 1893) to about 1910, but earlier examples exist, some dating from well before the nominal start of the brilliant period, c1875. Such out-of-period examples are usually simply called brilliant-cut or rich-cut glass.

The brilliant period of American cut glass also includes glass cut in earlier styles -- styles that have "lingered" -- such as the Anglo-Irish and broad-flute styles of earlier decades, as well as styles other than brilliant-cut that developed independently during the years of the period -- for example, glass engraved in the rock-crystal style and cameo-cut glass. These styles are identified by their names, not as brilliant-period cut glass nor as rich-cut glass which is, otherwise, the umbrella term for the quality cut glass that was produced from about 1810 to 1920 and beyond.

This chronology must be considered only in general terms. At best the periods are approximations, with the beginning and ending dates marking zones of transition that can easily vary up to ten years, plus or minus, from the years suggested, depending upon the individual cutting shops involved.

Pioneer Period: c1750-c1810. Germanic and English styles of cut and engraved glass. Imports: English and Irish cut and engraved (lead) glass and Bohemian cut and engraved (non-lead) glass. Domestic production: Information concerning cutting and engraving at Manheim, PA (Stiegel) and Philadelphia/Kensington can be found in Palmer 1989a while engraving at New Bremen, MD (Amelung) is discussed by Spillman and Frantz (1990, pp. 10-13).

Early Period: c1810-c1835. Beginning of the "collectors' period" of American cut glass. Marker: Introduction of steam-driven cutting wheels, from c1810. Imported English, French, and Anglo-Irish styles. Domestic production: New England, NY, PA, and WV.

Middle Period: c1835-c1875. Markers: Increased use of a variety of different motifs; popularity of the broad-flute style of cutting, 1830s to 1850s; rise in popularity of the Americo-Bohemian style, including the use of color, at mid-century and the increased popularity of engravings at this time. Domestic production: Mainly eastern U. S. factories; also, western PA, and WV.

Brilliant Period: c1875-c1920. The brilliant-period style of cutting is fully developed and it predominates. Supplemented with realistic engravings, especially after c1905.

• Early Brilliant Period: c1875-c1885. Markers: Packwood's cut-glass "demonstration" dishes are displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where copper-wheel engravings are also popular (1876); the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company catalogs of 1878 and c1880; Star & Hobnail, Russian, Moscow, and Persian patterns; row-type patterns designed by Burgess and MacDonald.

• Middle Brilliant Period: c1885-c1905. The so-called Golden Age of American Cut Glass. Markers: Catalogs from the New England Glass Company, Mt. Washington Glass Company, and C. Dorflinger & Sons (all c1885); O'Connor's Parisian pattern (1886); T. G. Hawkes's and Libbey's patented patterns, beginning in 1887; increased use of the curved-miter cut after c1885; and the use of the multi-pointed hobstar motif in patterns after 1889. Cut glass is promoted at world-class fairs (especially those of 1889, 1893, and 1904), and its popularity peaks c1905.

• Late Brilliant Period: c1905-c1920. Markers: Increasingly careless use of acid-polishing, first begun c1895; increased popularity of the pinwheel motif (patented 1889); stone-wheel engraving by Hawkes ("gravic"), Tuthill, Sinclaire, etc.; increased use of "figured" blanks; acid-etching after c1905 (e.g., Kalana series by Dorflinger); and the wide-spread use of the ganged-wheel, especially in floral cutting of the cheaper sort, after c1910. This late sub-period is sometimes referred to as the flower period. Social and economic pressures after c1905, together with a decline in the quality of cut glass, result in a corresponding decline in popularity of brilliant-period cut glass, a trend that is aggravated by the First World War (1914-1918).

Post-War Period: After Second World War (post-1945). Adjustment of international cut glass to post-war conditions world-wide. Innovative use of cut and engraved glass, begun during the previous period, continues, mostly by foreign companies.

Principal Books:

Please see the Bibliography for books by the following authors: Barlow and Kaiser 1999, Daniel 1950, Farrar and Spillman 1979, Feller 1988, Innes 1976, McKearin and McKearin 1948, McKearin and McKearin 1950, Polak 1975, Reilly 1994, Palmer 2004, Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, Spillman 1996, Spillman and Franz 1990, Spillman and Farrar 1977, Wilson 1972, and Wilson 1994.

Principal Articles:

Baker, G. E., 1994: The Wheeling Flint Glass Works and the North Wheeling Flint Glass Works, in WHEELING GLASS, 1829-1939 (G. I. Reilly, editor), pp. 24-38.

Clark, Michael and Jill Thomas-Clark, 2000: Arts and crafts glass: C. Dorflinger & Sons and the Honesdale Decorating Company, The Glass Club Bulletin, No. 187, pp. 11-15 (autumn 2000).

[Crawford, Jr., T. A.], 1989: The brilliant cut style, its origins and development, Pittsburgh Glass Journal, Vol. 1, No. 8, pp. 3-6.

Farrar, E. S., 1980: On cutting styles, The Hobstar, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 3 (Sep).

Farrar, E. S., 1981: Brilliant-cut glass: a reinterpretation, Art & Antiques, Jan/Feb, pp. 86-91.

Palmer, Arlene, 1989a: "To the Good of the Province and Country": Henry William Stiegel and American flint glass, in THE AMERICAN CRAFTSMAN AND THE EUROPEAN TRADITION, 1620-1820 (F. J. Puig and Michael Conforti, editors), pp. 202-39. Also see Butts, S. D., 1983: The Stiegel Old wedding goblet, The Glass Club Bulletin, No. 139, cover and pp. 1-2 (winter 1983).

Palmer, Arlene, 1989b: Book review of WHITE HOUSE GLASSWARE by J. S. Spillman, The Glass Club Bulletin, No. 160, pp.8-9 (winter 1989). Response by Spillman can be found in No. 161, pp. 16, 10 (spring 1990).

Rakow, J. K. and L. S. Rakow, 1991: Stuart and Sons' cameo and English rock-crystal-cut glass, The Magazine Antiques, Feb 1991, pp. 382-7.

Spillman, Jane, 1979: All that glitters: Corning brilliant-cut glass, Art & Antiques, May/Jun, pp. 42-49.

Spillman, J. S., 1985: Jersey Glass Company, Jersey City, New Jersey, Annales du 9e Congres De L'Association Internationale Pour L'Histoire du Verre, pp. 319-31.

Wilson, K. M., 1972: NEW ENGLAND GLASS AND GLASSMAKING. Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York, 401 pp.

NOTE:

1. Because the Spillman and Farrar articles were written 28 and 26 years ago, respectively, they understandably contain a number of errors including the following:

• The Russian pattern was never patented, by MacDonald or anyone else. The pattern patented by MacDonald, mistakenly believed to be the Russian pattern in 1950, is today recognized to be an entirely different pattern, one that is temporarily being called the "MacDonald" pattern until its official name is discovered.

• A double error: The "Old Fashioned Hobnail" pattern assigned to the centerpiece (Spillman, p. 46) is the name that was given to a different pattern in 1950 by Dorothy Daniel. That pattern, which was patented, is now known by its official catalog name, Grecian & Hobnail. The centerpiece is actually cut in the Quarter Diamond pattern, a generic pattern that was cut by several companies. As such, it has nothing to do with the Hobnail pattern (which is also generic).

• There is no evidence that Hawkes's Chrysanthemum pattern was ever exhibited in Paris (at least under that name). Similarly, no record exists to indicate that "H. P.Sinclaire [Jr.] of the Hawkes company designed six or seven pieces of engraved and cut-and-engraved glass for the Paris exposition . . ." (Farrar 1981, p. 88).

Updated 1 Sep 2007