Description:
Fiery opalescent, pressed lead glass sugar bowl with cover, decorated on the sides with three press-molded baskets of flowers over double-headed eagle shields, alternating with three tall acanthus leaves flanked by short stylized tulips on a stippled background, which collectors refer to as lacy pressed glass. These intricate designs were used to cover the inherent wrinkles and cloudiness of pressed glass. The conical cover has a mushroom finial and six vertical acanthus leaves on a stippled background; the circular bowl has a galleried rim and scalloped foot. Pressed glass was an American innovation of the late 1830s; early objects were simple small forms such as cup plates and drawer knobs. This rare example is attributed to the Providence Flint Glass Company, based on its similarity to a salt that has "PROVIDENCE" imprinted on the bottom. The short-lived company was established in 1831 on land owned by the Dyer family of Providence, by Benjamin Dyer, Benjamin Dyer Jr., Charles Dyer, George B. Holmes, and William Eayers. They were trying to compete with the New England Glass Company and Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, but had financial difficulties and closed in 1833. The opalescence was achieved by adding bone ash to the glass melt with metallic oxides for color traces, a technique introduced in the early 1820s at the Baccaret factory in France and used in New England by 1830. There is a number in black ink on inner surface of bowl, "784 kw."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+87.033 |
