New England Glass Company
Goblet

MakerEast Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1818–1888
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Goblet
Datec. 1860–1885
Made inCambridge, Massachusetts, United States
MediumLead glass
Dimensions6 × 3 3/8 in. diameter (15.2 × 8.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Anne and Albert Chao at "One Great Night in November, 2011"
Object numberB.2011.10
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Louis Vaupel is one of America’s well-known 19th-century glass artisans. He has long been admired for the superbly designed and executed engravings that he made for the New England Glass Company for more than three decades. Founded in 1812 in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, the glassworks produced wares of the highest quality, including free blown, mold blown, cut, engraved, and art glass. Vaupel’s tenure began there in 1851, within a few months of his emigration from the Prussian kingdom of Hanover. There he would perfect his expertise in engraving a design into glass with a rapidly spinning copper wheel fed with abrasives. The wheel presses the abrasive against the glass so that it removes the surface by grinding. In recognition of his exceptional talent, three years later he was designated “First Engraver.”

Another factor that has contributed to Vaupel’s reputation is the existence of a family archive that records in remarkable detail his life and industry. This elegant goblet belongs to a set, said to have originally numbered six, which were engraved with his initials, “LV.”

Related examples: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Toledo Museum of Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.


ProvenanceBy descent, the family of Louis Vaupel; Dorothy-Lee Jones, East Baldwin, Maine; [W. M. Schwind, Jr. Antiques and Fine Art, Yarmouth, Maine]; purchased by MFAH, 2011.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved by and for Louis Vaupel, whose initials are incorporated in the oval cartouche: LV

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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