Louis Vaupel is heralded as one of the well-known glass artisans working in 19th-century America. 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 in all types of glass, 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 of various sizes 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.”

This related wine glass bears a cartouche, which was never engraved. Perhaps Vaupel executed a number of vessels in this pattern, yet chose to leave a small number of them blank so he could add to the set or replace those glasses that broke.

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