New England Glass Company
Sugar Bowl

Public Domain

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Maker New England Glass CompanyEast Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1818–1888

CultureAmerican

Titles

Sugar Bowl

Datec. 1827–1830

Made inCambridge, Massachusetts, United States

MediumLead glass

Dimensions5 1/4 × 4 7/8 × 3 7/8 in. (13.3 × 12.4 × 9.8 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Jack R. McGregor Endowment Fund

Object numberB.2011.11.A,.B

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Washington Hall

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

GLASS

DescriptionThe process of pressing glass was first mechanized in the United States between 1820 and 1830. Glassware was formed by placing a blob of molten glass in a metal mold and pressing it with a metal plunger to form the inside shape. Made by the New England Glass Company, this sugar bowl is a rare, early example of pressed glass. Early pressed glass like this is characterized by a thickness and heaviness that are attributable to the new process and the challenges of controlling production. Several shear marks are visible on this vessel. While it is not known by whom or when the machine press was invented, its development is generally credited to this glassworks. The method is considered the greatest advance in glassmaking technology since ancient Roman times and America’s major contribution to it.
ProvenanceDorothy-Lee Jones, East Baldwin, Maine; [W. M. Schwind, Jr. Antiques and Fine Art, Yarmouth, Maine]; purchased by MFAH, 2011. Add Family of Louis Vaupel?
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

various cataloguing marks on underside of body:
in white paint "96(?).3.102(?)"
in black paint "L88.GS.72"

on lid:
in white paint "96.3.40.b"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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