In the early 1820s, a new method for pressing molten glass into metal molds by machine, rather than by hand, was devised and is now heralded as America’s principal contribution to the history of glassmaking. Practically overnight this new technology was adopted by glasshouses on both sides of the Allegheny Mountains.

This superb compote is a tour de force of American pressed glass. It exemplifies the second generation of this genre as larger and more complex objects were pressed in separate parts and then joined using a wafer of glass. This form was difficult to fabricate because of the basket’s intricate openwork design. The results were always uncertain. It is not unusual that the sides of the basket were either fractured or incomplete if the molten glass had cooled down before it completely filled the mold’s recesses.

The pattern of piercing employed on this compote is often related to contemporary Parisian porcelains exported to America. This fashion for openwork or pierced ceramics was initiated in the 18th century and only increased in the 19th century. Ambitious glass manufacturers, recognizing the popularity of these ceramic forms, translated the designs into glass.