AMERICAN BRILLIANT CUT GLASS VASE DIAMOND AND HOBSTAR

This Exquisite Brilliant Period Cut Glass Vase was cut during The “American Brilliant Period” of Glass Cutting. It is unsigned. When unsigned, it may be attributed either as American or as Canadian. This was a commonality for such glass at the turn of the century. However, generally speaking, after 1905 many pieces were leaving the factories signed with acid etched signatures which specifically identified a piece as belonging to a specific factory.

This Fabulous Cut Glass Vase has exquisite deep miter cutting that is executed in geometric fashion exhibiting hobstars, strawberry diamond and Harvard pattern. The vase has a rayed bottom. The vase stands at 10 1/4" High and has a Base Diameter of 5”. The Width at the top measures 5 1/4". The vase has great clarity of blank.

COMMENT: Just A Gorgeous Vase For A Rose Arrangement!

CONDITION: BTEF condition! It is in great condition except for a very minor flake (or flea bite) on the exterior of one saw tooth and very minor roughness to one saw tooth. Such minor problem is acceptable to the knowledgeable collector/dealer. After all, most of this brilliant glass is approximately 80-130 years old.

AMERICAN AND CANADIAN BRILLIANT PERIOD CUT GLASS

This fabulous glass is a world of its own when it comes to the subject of glass. For centuries we all have been enamored by the beauty of glass. Glass has been executed in many forms by great artisans of their trade. Whether it be blown, cut, engraved, stretched or pressed it always has been looked at with curious eyes and amazement. The art of glass making is a world art that has been carried out for many centuries by great artisans of their trade. Great glass has always rivaled with some of the best potteries and porcelains of the world and has easily taken its place in history whether it is in private collections or in museums throughout the world. To understand glass, like any other art form, one has to spend much time reading, researching and experience the touch, feel and look, in order to truly begin to comprehend what it’s all about. Sometimes, it can take years to even begin to appreciate and understand such art forms. The quest for beauty can be a long process and to understand real beauty one has to first try to comprehend the process of how glass is first created, then realize the processes are all different depending on what kind of glass we are talking about. For example, the process of pressing glass in a mold, the process of blowing glass in a mold, the process of mouth blowing a piece on a pipe, the process of hand blowing a piece of glass, the process of engraving glass and arriving finally to our subject of hand cut crystal…”American and Canadian Brilliant Cut Glass”…all of which are entirely different and would take hours to write about. Our main concern here is going to be in the realm of “Brilliant Cut Glass”.

The creation of “Brilliant Cut Glass” basically began in the United States approximately 1875 and continues into the early 1940s. Generally speaking most cut glass factories were out of business by the 1915. One must realize the world was at war. WW I had just broken out and the supply of lead as a necessary ingredient was supplied in smaller amounts and at higher prices because the need for lead for the war was in greater demand than to supply these rich factories to make cut glass for the rich and famous. Consequently many factories had to close their doors and cease operation.  Similar to the wealthy English factories that produced fine pottery and porcelains, only the rich and strong survived. By  the late1930’s, due to labor costs rising, the Great Depression and the rumblings of political uncertainty throughout the world, especially Europe, United States and Canada as Hitler permeated his dirty politics and it was a matter of time before WW II began, this basically marked the end of cut glass making in America and Canada.

Cut Glass was a phenomenal monetary asset to the American economy at the time, employing great glass artisans from all over Europe and producing some of the best glass the world has ever seen and will never see again in production. By the end of WW II, this glass was now almost extinct and would never be ever produced again with the preciseness and exquisiteness of these master cutters and engravers of the time.

This specific kind of glass dazzled the world, especially America upon its production, and never ceased to amaze the wealthy with the various factories unlimited talent to constantly produce different designs that meet with approval and thirst for bigger and better creations as the weeks, months and years went by. Now the various cut glass houses or factories were in a furious competition to outdo themselves and many times created the outrageous or extravagant and totally non-functional pieces that are now only in private connoisseur collections and museum displays, such as the many cut glass oddities and rare banquet lamps and punch bowls which are on display in the Corning Museum in New York City.

Each cut glass factory with its workers diligently strived for that creation that would stand out and demonstrate to the world the exquisite craftsmanship of its workers and artisans of cut glass making at the time. Some of the World’s Expositions for these glass factories to exhibit their products started with The Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, The Paris Exposition in 1889, The Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893,  and finally The Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon in 1908.

Such renowned exhibitors at the time were Dorflinger, Fry, Hawkes, Libbey, and Tuthill; this is just to name but a few. These events exposed these exquisite glass cutters and most definitely made them stand proud for their creations in the eyes of the rich and famous and state dignitaries. Soon thereafter, presidents of the United States, Mexico and Cuba and King Edward VII of England were placing orders for dinner services made of cut glass, as well as the opulent tycoons world wide. Now “Cut Glass” had made its mark on the world and its thirst for it had become immeasurable. Such factories as these and others had the mission to quench this thirst by constantly churning out the most fabulous and extreme imaginable pieces that they could dream up both pattern wise and shape wise. From clarets, jugs, compotes, platters, punch bowls, banquet lamps, all the way to the “Liberty Bell”, nothing was impossible once these glass cutters and designers’ ingenious minds were at play and their gifted hands at work. The Corning Museum is just but one of the many “stately homes” for such wonderful pieces ever made to live on forever with protection from the ravages of the outside world. Many collectors have actually built bomb shelters under ground to store their unimaginable collections and had made immeasurable sacrifices to attain their collections over the years. Yes, I am serious, I am not kidding! Yes, collecting this glass is most addictive and not easily suppressed. Ask any ardent collector where money is not a great obstacle. It’s definitely a disease but not fatal!

As years went by, the best factories, because of their creations and superiority of products, surfaced to the apex of their industry and became renowned household names in the estates of the very wealthy and famous; and today is held in prestigious esteem either by private collectors and or museums throughout the United States and other parts of the World.

By turn of the century (circa 1900), there were as many as one thousand cut glass houses throughout the United States in full production and by the end of 1915 there were less than one hundred still in operation. By  mid-1930’s, their work basically at this point in time was limited to smaller jobs such as commissioned work, engraving designs on crystal and other glass forms, and placing inscriptions on pieces for presentation purposes of the client. By 1945, most if not nearly all factories were extinct.

This amazing craft is basically a lost art form and fabulous pieces such as exquisitely cut punch bowls, carafes, epergnes, perfume or cologne bottles, ice tea pots, and decanters, etc. are ardently treasured by connoisseur collectors and museums. As we know, these pieces will never again be produced and our only hope of owing them will be by finding them and realizing the rarity of certain pieces and their values.

I would emphasize learning is the key to your success should you so desire to attain or collect such cut glass pieces. The process of learning is through reading many books on the subject, researching on line, going to antique shops and shows, speaking with knowledgeable dealers on the subject, traveling and while traveling definitely fit in some museum tours in your schedule. Cultural exposure will be your key to learning and better understanding this glass. Some writers have referred to this as the “Era of Super Glass”.

For years Canadian Brilliant Period Cut Glass has been overlooked and lay dormant. However as the world globally progresses with awareness through the internet, more collectors and dealers are becoming more astute and realize that world artisans were not stagnant and did end up in obscure little places like Desoronto, Ontario. Yes, such was the case for Clapperton who apprenticed at Libbey Toledo, Ohio prior to 1905. In 1905, he left Ohio and ended up in a little town half way between Toronto City and Montreal City to pursue his own business in cut glass making. Here he rented a little warehouse where he began his business and realizing he needed extra hands and financial support, he in 1906 teamed up with Gundy and became known as “Gundy-Clapperton”.  Now the mission was to get this glass to the marketplace from boon town or the boon docks to the opulent city folk that was going to pay for this glass. It certainly was not the farmers of Ontario who were going to buy this expensive glass. Consequently Gundy and Clapperton needed a distributor. Who should be more fitting than Henry Birk of Montreal, known as The House of Birks, with his world renowned Jewelry Shop situated downtown Montreal, was the break these boys needed. With the aid of Birks and the Birks clientele, Gundy and Clapperton were now on their way to fame and fortune. For Canada, Gundy and Clapperton stand out as having been one of Canada’s best cut glass cutters of their time and survived in business together until 1931. Several other rival glass cutters of notoriety at the time were Gowan and Kent, and Roden Brothers who were competing in Ontario. As for Montreal, there was the House of Birks or Birks, Philips Cut Glass Co., and the head branch of the Roden Bros. It is reasonably difficult to find pattern books from these factories and little was researched on these cutters over the years. More information is slowly becoming available as the years go by due to the fact that many excellent pieces have surfaced to the market place and eyes and ears have stood attention. Ah! These are not American cut pieces but rather Canadian. Voila! Now American collectors and dealers are doing their homework. Many of the unsigned pieces, once thought to be American are now being discovered to be of Canadian manufacture. Many of the clear blanks were shipped in from the U.S. and cut here in Canada. Some of the finished products were signed but like in the US, some pieces left the factories without signatures. So now American collectors and dealers are realizing there is no great distinction. In other words, if the piece has a great blank, great cutting, a great pattern, and unique shape, it has great appeal and is worth collecting. Besides lots of glass cutters moved around and learned their original skills by being apprenticed to some of the big boys in the United States at the time. Naturally, it would make sense that these Canadian boys were going to create their own masterpieces and produce great cutting; after all they had a skill and had to keep up their appearances and reputations in creating these “jewels” for the wealthy.

SIDE NOTE:  As you have read these past several pages, you will have realized that I have taken you on an educated excursion through time in the evolution of some of the history of this glass and its makers. You are now probably still wondering “What is Cut Glass? Well, keep tuning in and I will be presenting more informative information on the subject at a later date.

At the moment we are in the infant stages of development with our site and much concentration has to be focused on product and research about our products that we are making available to you. So please accept our sincere apologizes for cutting this article short at this time. Please look forward to other articles on this subject and others items of interest. We can never have enough information. The longer we live, the more we learn. The whole idea of education is to learn the things that we do not know, not the things that we know.

NOTE: For further information, click MEDIA at top of Home Page and read our published articles on Brilliant Cut Glass. Also see ARTICLE Section.