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Homes

Front Porch: Historic cut glass at Plant

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published June 24, 2005

The exhibit room at the Henry B. Plant Museum sparkles like a sunny day in Florida. Dozens of cut-glass bowls, decanters, trays, humidors, jars and glasses from the American Brilliant Period (1876-1916) are on display through the end of the year, in what is a major exhibit of high-end home collectibles.

Who knew such decorating passion raged?

The show, much of it on loan from the local Sunburst Chapter of the American Cut Glass Association, features the follies of generations of glass collectors.

Department stores and jewelers across America sold the glass to a hungry buying public, enriched by the nation's industrial and technological boom.

American brilliant glass was produced in mass quantities for a rising middle class able to indulge in the luxury, says Kristin Veline, curator of education. The Chicago and St. Louis World's Fairs touted it.

By 1900, 1,000 glass factories across the country were churning out ice cream trays, clocks, pitchers, oil lamps, salt cellars and punch bowls, including one that weighed 143 pounds.

"This glass has a higher lead content than any glass manufactured, which is why it shines so much," says Sally Shifke, Plant museum spokeswoman.

Painstakingly handmade by a cadre of skilled American craftsmen living and working in places like Corning, N.Y., cut-glass rage peaked at the turn of 20th century. Companies like Libbey, J. Hoare & Co., T.G. Hawkes and C. Dorflinger & Sons, produced the glass known for its delicate geometric patterns in shapes that ranged from pinwheels to sunbursts to strawberry diamonds.

"My grandmother had an (American Brilliant) relish dish," Shifke recalls, "and at every holiday at her house that dish was always there."

The exhibit, "American Brilliant Period, Rich Cut Glass," offers glimpses into the popularity of a style now largely forgotten except by collectors.

One photo provides a view of workers in a glass-cutting shop in Corning, the hub of the industry. A newspaper account tells the story behind cut-glass bud vases, once accessories in Packwood automobiles. An exquisite emerald colored decanter was probably manufactured for use on ocean liners because of its flat bottom, intended to prevent spills in high seas.

The exhibit opened in March and runs through the end of the year. Underwritten by the John H. Sykes Foundation, the show featured a hands-on demonstration last month by Pepi Herrmann, one of the last independent crystal cutters in America (his accounts include Tiffany's and Gumps). Late this fall, festivities will include glass evaluations, a collectors show and sale, as well as a lecture by Jane Shadel Spillman, curator of the Corning Museum of Glass.

For now, if you want to buy anything, you'll have to settle for the American Brilliant cut-glass sugar and creamer set in the museum gift shop.

It sells for $150.

Not bad considering it was probably barely used.

"These pieces were really for display and special occasions," Shifke says. "A lot of people gave them as wedding gifts."

The Henry B. Plant Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.

A donation of $5 for adults and $2 for children younger than 12 is requested. Museum members are admitted free.

Groups of 20 or more are asked to make reservations by calling Sally Shifke at (813) 254-1891.

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 08:09:06]