| Object ID |
1957.428.1 (a,b) |
| Object Name |
Decanter |
| Dimensions |
H-11.25 inches |
| Early Date |
1820 |
| Late Date |
1830 |
| Made By |
Attributed to Boston & Sandwich Glass Company |
| Description |
Although wealthy Americans used cut and engraved decanters imported from England and Ireland as early as 1750, these forms were not available to the middle class until the 1820s, when the Roman technique of blown molded glass was revived and these forms were produced in large quantities. Most of these blown-molded decanters were made of clear lead glass; this pair is distinctive for its brilliant cobalt-blue coloring.
The first patterns for blown-molded glass were geometric and imitated cut glass designs. Subsequent patterns included more flowing lines and curvilinear motifs which exploited the plasticity of glass and demonstrated the glassworker's liberation from the rigid designs dictated by the cutter's wheel. Motif's such as bands of beading, stars, hearts, palmettes, and the "shell and rib" design shown here, were common to later blown-molded glass. By the 1830s, blown-molded glass was superseded by the more efficient technology of pressed glass, and decanters such as these became obsolete.
These decanters have been attributed to the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company because fragments of the same pattern have been found on the factory site. |
| Credit |
Gift of Channing Hare |
|
