Definitions of:   acid cutback  - Amberina - applied glass - art glass - Art Deco glass - Art Nouveau glass - blown glass - brilliant cut glass - Burmese glass

ILLUSTRATED GLOSSARY
OF TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE
OLD AMERICAN GLASS

by curculiosglass

The purpose of this 10-part glossary is to help buyers understand terms
used by E-Bay sellers to describe American glass made from 1850-1930.
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A - B

Ca - Cz       D - E     F - L      M - Op       Ov - Pe      Pi - Pz     Q - R       Sa - Ste       Str - Z

Glossary Table of Contents

                Reference sources:  In attempting to define terms for this glossary, we have relied on authoritative sources such as the Corning Museum of Glass,  An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass by Harold Newman and the references and organizations specifically noted below in the glossary.  We also have had the privilege of conferring with E-Bay glass-sellers whose experience with glass makes them authorities in many areas.  In consulting with E-Bay sellers, we have been impressed by their wealth of expertise, and we are indebted to them for their kindness in sharing their knowledge, and their generosity in offering use of their photographs.  This glossary's goals are to help E-Bay buyers be informed buyers, and to increase both buyers' and sellers' knowledge of American glass.

A Steuben acid cutback Hunting Pattern vase, circa 1925-1932:
This vase consists of layers of cased clear and white glass over red glass.
Acid-etching was used to cut away the top layers to create a cameo effect.

photo permission courtesy of Chrysler Museum of Art,
chrysler.org/Tiffany02.asp

Acid cutback glassware:   a kind of art glass.   An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass defines "acid cutback glassware" as a type of art glass having the appearance of cameo glass, in which the cameo design is acid-etched instead of being carved.  Acid cutback glassware usually consists of layers of cased glass of contrasting colors; parts of the top layer are etched away to allow the color of the underlying glass to show through, and a design in relief results. Frederick Carder of Steuben Glass in Corning, New York, developed this process in 1932.  To make an acid cutback piece, the glassmaker would transfer an inked design to the body of a glass piece, cover the design with acid-resistant wax and then immerse the piece in hydrofluoric acid.  The acid corroded the top layer of glass in the area around the design. The above Steuben vase has three layers of glass -- an outer clear layer; a middle layer of Steuben's "alabaster glass," an opaque white glass made to resemble the mineral alabaster; and an inner layer of red glass.  On some areas of the vase, the acid was allowed to eat through to the bottom layer, and in others, to the middle:   this produced a multi-layered partially white and partially clear design in relief.  See also "cameo glass" and "etched glass" in this glossary.

An amberina toothpick holder made by New England Glass in 1885
photo courtesy of  1jrok

Amberina:  a type and color of glass.  Amberina is red glass that shades to yellow at the base or center of a piece.  The first amberina was made by adding gold chloride to amber-colored glass while it was still molten.  After the glass cooled, it was reheated, and the gold compound caused those parts of the glass that reached high temperatures to turn red.  Patented by Joseph Locke of the New England Glass Company in 1883, amberina was first issued in the mid-1880's by New England Glass.  During the same period, New England licensed Hobbs, Brockunier to make amberina as well.  In 1888, Libbey Glass leased New England and took over its production of amberina.  According to  An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass, a fourth glassworks -- the Mt. Washington company -- also began producing amberina in the 1880's, but Libbey sued for trademark infringement, and Mt. Washington thereafter adopted the name "Rose Amberina" for its amberina glass.  Much glass marketed as "amberina" after this initial Victorian period is not true amberina made through Locke's heat sensitive process involving the use of gold chloride.  During the carnival glass era (1907 - 1920's), Fenton produced red/yellow mold-pressed glass also christined "amberina."   Fenton made its amberina through a heat-sensitive process similar to Locke's, but added selenium and cadmium sulphide, rather than gold chloride, to the molten mixture, because selenium-based red glass was easier to press into molds.  Gold chloride gives glass a pinkish red to deep ruby tone, while selenium with cadmium sulphide imparts an orange cast to red glass; some collectors thus argue that selenium-based amberina is not true amberina.  Notably, the word "amberina" is also used colloquially in a general way never contemplated by Joseph Locke -- to describe any old or contemporary red glass that shades to yellow at the base or center of the piece:  much of the glass so described contains neither gold nor selenium and is not genuine amberina.  After the 1920's, glass sold as amberina was often simply amber glass flashed with a thin coating of ruby glass; such "flashed amberina" shows a sharp shift from red to amber rather than the gradual blending of color that characterizes Victorian amberina.  Reverse Amberina is glass whose shading is the opposite of that seen in amberina glass:  in a reverse amberina piece, the center or base is reddish, while the rim is yellow.

Applied glass:  this term refers to a glass-making technique.  Glass pieces sometimes have decorations, handles or other parts that were formed separately from the body of the piece.  Such parts are said to be "applied" when they were attached, while still hot, to a hot glass object during its manufacture.  For example, the handle on the Burmese glass creamer shown below is an "applied handle".

Burmese glass creamer with applied handle
This creamer was made by The Mt. Washington Glass Co.,
in the pattern known as Diamond Quilted, circa 1885-1994.
This is a example of Victorian art glass.

photo courtesy of nickadaemous

Art glass:  a category of glass.  The Corning Museum of Glass defines "Art Glass" as:  "1) Several types of glass with newly developed surface textures, shaded color or casing, made in the United States from about 1870 and in Europe between about 1880 and 1900; (2) more generally, any ornamental glassware made since the mid-19th Century."  The second definition makes this category so broad as to render it a nearly useless catch-all for any kind of recently-manufactured glass used for decorative rather than utilitarian purposes:  on a given day on E-Bay, there may be as many as 25,000 items listed in the "Art Glass" category.  Used in the narrower, first sense, however, the term "art glass" is a descriptive term for some of the finest old American glass.   To find art glass made between 1870 and 1900 on E-Bay, try doing a search for "Victorian art glass" -- this time period falls within the Victorian Era.   The Burmese glass creamer shown above is a kind of Victorian art glass.

      

An Art Deco "Schmetterling" (Butterfly) vase made by Auguste Walther & Sons
photos courtesy of majorglass

Art Deco glass:  Art Deco was a decorative style of the twenties and thirties.  According to many art historians, the first stirrings of the Art Deco movement occurred as early as 1910.  The name "Art Deco" was imposed after the end of the movement, and derives from the 1925 Paris exposition called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which is credited with launching the era of Art Deco's widespread popularity in Europe and America.  The exhibition, dedicated to the display of modern decorative arts, brought together designers from all over Europe and beyond and attracted more than 16 million visitors.   An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass defines Art Deco as “a decorative style that developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s out of Art Nouveau style and later art movements.  It emphasized geometric patterns, and examples are found in many branches of the arts, including glassware.”  Art Deco was characterized by straight lines and non-representational designs using trapezoidal and zig-zagging forms, streamlined shapes and conical forms made of tiered concentric circles.  When represented in Art Deco, human figures were often symmetrical and stylized.  In European glassware, leading exponents of Art Deco style were, among others, Sabino and Lalique in France; Orrefors in Sweden; Auguste Walther & Sons in Germany; and Joblings, Bagley and Davidson in England.  Pictured above is a 1935 Walther “Schmetterling” vase:  its symmetrical and streamlined design and trapezoidal shape are quintessential Art Deco.  Art Deco can be seen as representing a machine age aesthetic that replaced the decorative floral motifs of the Art Nouveau movement with spare designs that emphasized the speed and power of technology.  In America, Art Deco coincided with the period between World War I and World War II that ushered in the mass production of inexpensive machine-made Depression glass.  Art Deco influenced the Depression glass designs of such companies as Anchor-Hocking, Cambridge, Consolidated, Duncan, Fostoria, Heisey, Indiana, Libbey, Morgantown and Tiffin.  During the mid-1930’s, Art Deco also influenced high-end American art glass such as Steuben’s crystal:  the famous Steuben Gazelle Bowl designed by Sidney Waugh rests on a geometrical Art Deco base.  This bowl can be viewed at the website of the Corning Museum of Glass (steuben.com/acb/product2.cfm?group=33&product=120).  See also Depression glass in this glossary.

The floral motifs and curved, intertwining lines on this vase
reflect the decorative style known as Art Nouveau.

photos courtesy of frozintime

Art Nouveau glass:  Art Nouveau was a turn-of-the century decorative movement.  Art Nouveau was a style of decoration popular from the 1880's to the beginning of World War I (1914).  A rebellion against the frilly ornamentation of the Victorian Era and an attempt to define a "modern" decorative style, Art Nouveau influenced all the decorative arts and not simply glassmaking.  Art Nouveau was typified by designs incorporating curvilinear lines, stylized botanical motifs and classical figures such as nymphs.  Art Nouveau glass was popular in France, Bohemia and Germany (where it was called Jugenstil), as well as in England and the United States.  Art Nouveau arrived in England in the early 1890's through William Morris and Pre-Raphaelite artists, whose influence spread quickly to America.  In 1894, Art Nouveau style was adapted to glassware by New York glass designer Louis Comfort Tiffany.  European glassmakers whose names are associated with the Art Nouveau movement include, among others, Daum, Galle, Lalique, Loetz and Moser.  According to An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass, Art Nouveau glass was characterized by free-formed pieces that displayed organic forms such as "floral patterns with elaborately twining tendrils," and which frequently were decorated via such techniques as enameling and relief-cutting. Tiffany's Art Nouveau glass, however, was almost never enameled; instead, it featured rich iridescent finishes and employed methods such as threading and feathering to create decorative designs suggestive of peacock feathers and botanical forms.  Contemporary glass and reproductions:   Many glass pieces made after the end of the Art Nouveau movement (such as the handsome green vase shown above) are decorated in "Art Nouveau style"; such glassware is often beautiful in its own right, but it should not be mistaken for original Art Nouveau glassware made before World War I .  Buyers also should take note that intentionally deceptive reproductions of rare and expensive authentic Art Nouveau glass abound; such reproduced glassware often bears forged marks and signatures of such glass makers as Galle, Lalique, Loetz, Moser and Tiffany.  Mark Chervenka's Guide to Fakes & Reproductions, 4th ed. (2007) provides useful information and photographs intended to aid buyers and sellers in identifying Art Nouveau glass fakes and forgeries.   See also Tiffany Glass in this glossary.

 

Tiffany Art Nouveau  blown-glass Favrile vases, circa 1892-1896
photo permission courtesy of metmuseum.org

Blown glass:  this term refers to a glass-making technique.  Blown glass may be hand-blown or mold-blown.   Hand-blown glass is made by using a long hollow tube called a blow pipe to blow a bubble of molten glass.  The glass maker then forms the bubble into a piece such as a vase or bowl, by spinning, pinching or rolling the glass, or by using a tool to shape it.  The Tiffany vases shown above are examples of hand-blown glass.  Mold Blown:  A second method of making blown glass is to use a hollow tube to blow molten glass into a metal mold.  The mold gives the glass its shape and pattern.  (See "mold-blown" in this glossary.)

Detail photo of a brilliant cut glass celery dish
photo courtesy of  butybst

Brilliant Cut Glass:   a category of glass.  Also called American Brilliant Period glass, or ABP glass.  ABP glass is lead crystal decorated through very deep, complex and highly polished cutting, produced in the Brilliant Period of American Glass, from approximately 1876 to 1914.  The brilliance of ABP results from the high lead content of the glass (up to 50%); this gives the crystal a high refractive index, so that it "sparkles" or scatters light like a prism or gem.  As the starting date of the American Brilliant Period indicates, the glass' manufacture became possible only after the close of the Civil War, when lead was no longer monopolized for the production of ammunition.  ABP glass was made through the following process:  first, a blank of lead crystal was blown with a blow pipe and shaped; after cooling, the blank was cut in turn by a rotating metal wheel fed with moistened abrasives, followed by a stone wheel; finally, the glass piece was polished with a wooden wheel. ABP lead crystal was very expensive in its day, and generally considered a luxury reserved for the Victorian upper classes.  American glassmakers producing brilliant cut glass included such companies as J.D. Bergen, Corning, Dorflinger, T.H. Hawkes, Hoare, Libbey, Pitkins, Sinclaire and Tuthill.  According to An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass, ABP glass was first exhibited in 1876 by the New England Glass Company.  Early ABP pieces usually feature geometric patterns such as those shown in the above photograph:  common designs were hobstars, pinwheels, fans and diamonds.  After 1910, American glass companies cut and engraved non-geometric designs in ABP glass such as flowers, birds and fruits; APB made during the later "flower period" is often acid polished, rather than polished with a wooden wheel, and (with some notable exceptions) is generally of lower quality and fetches lower prices than do earlier pieces.  Genuine American Brilliant Period glass is sometimes confused with pressed pattern glass molded to look like cut glass, and with contemporary cut glass. If you're interested in ABP glass, we recommend the website of the American Cut Glass Association (cutglass.org).  An excellent handy resource for identifying traditional cut-glass patterns such as hobstar and pinwheel can be found in the article "Engraving and Cutting Glass" by Bettye Waher at the website of the National Depression Glass Association (ndga.net/rainbow/1981/81rrg12b.htm).  For an additional photo of ABP glass, see "lead crystal" in this glossary.

  

Victorian  Burmese glass:
This bowl was  made by Mt. Washington Glass Co., circa 1885-1994.
The underside of this bowl shows a satinized and polished smooth pontil,

photos courtesy of gljacobsct

Burmese Glass:  a type of Victorian art glass.  Burmese glass is opaque yellow art glass that shades to salmon pink at the rims and edges. The glass is shiny or satin in texture.  Examples of fine Victorian Burmese glass are the bowl directly above, and the creamer shown higher up on this page above the definition for "art glass".  Burmese glass’s pink shading resulted from the adding of gold chloride to molten glass – after the glass cooled, it was reheated in a furnace, and the gold compound caused those sections reaching sufficiently high temperatures to turn pink. The soft yellow of Burmese glass was created by adding uranium to the glass formula; thus original Burmese glass glows green under a black light.  Original Burmese glass was patented  in 1885 by Frederick Shirley of  the Mt. Washington Glass Co. in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  The company made the glass through 1894.  In 1894, Mt. Washington merged with Pairpoint, which continued to issue small quantities of Burmese Glass under its name.  Only one other company made true Victorian Burmese glass  – in 1886, the English company Thomas Webb & Sons procured a license from Mt. Washington to produce the glass – as the story goes, Queen Victoria took a liking to it, and Thomas Webb thus called its Burmese glass “Queen’s Burmese Ware”.  The name "Burmese glass" is said to have derived from a comment by Queen Victoria that the glass looked like "a Burmese sunset".  In the ten years of its production, Victorian Burmese glass was issued in more than 250 shapes, including, among others, beverage and condiment sets, vases, bowls, toothpick holders and lamps.   After the Victorian Era, Burmese glass re-emerged in America in various forms.  In the 1940’s, Gundersen Glass (later subsumed into Pairpoint) issued a thick, heavy and highly collectible variety of Burmese glass sometimes referred to as “Gundersen Burmese”.  When Pairpoint re-organized in the 1970's, it also issued Burmese glass in limited quantities.  In addition, the West Virginia company Fenton Art Glass produced its own line of Burmese glass beginning in 1970.   Reproductions:  Buyers should note that deceptive contemporary reproductions of Victorian Burmese glass abound.  According to The Guide to Fakes & Reproductions, 4th ed. (2007), by Mark Chervenka, all authentic early Burmese glass fluoresces green under a black light, and has a smooth polished pontil, which may or may not be satinized or acid-finished.  The polished, slightly depressed circle on the underside of the bowl featured in the photographs above is a satinized smooth pontil.  Reproductions often have rough (not ground) or only partially ground pontils.  (See "pontil" in this glossary).  Reproductions sometimes can be distinguished by the following traits as well:  streaks or swirls in the coloring rather than uniform coloring; a rough rather than smooth satin surface on satin pieces; and/or clear glass on the edges or rims of pieces.  Italian reproductions of footed and handled pieces tend to have narrow ridges on the handles and feet, while the originals have smooth handles and feet.    Peachblow:  Burmese ware is sometimes confused with Mt, Washington's Peachblow:  the latter, however, shades from pink to light blue and does not fluoresce under a black light; see "Peachblow" in this glossary.  E-Bay Burmese:  Original Burmese glass is often found most easily on E-Bay by entering the words "Mt. Washington glass" or "Webb Burmese" into the search engine.  Buyers should be wary of Mt. Washington and Webb Burmese E-Bay listings that do not post photographs that clearly show pontils.  Buyers take note:  Listings advertised in the right-hand margin of this glossary under the heading "Items from E-Bay Sellers" are run by E-Bay and not by this glossary, and are not necessarily endorsed by this glossary as offering authentic Burmese ware.  

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Many thanks to E-Bayers 1jrok,  butybst,  frozintime,  gljacobsct,  majorglass and nickadaemous,  for generously contributing photographs to this page of the glass glossary.  Rights to all photos belong to the photographers, and pictures should not be used without their permission.  Text is (c) 2007 curculiosglass, all rights reserved.  To locate any E-Bay seller mentioned here,  just click on "Site Map" at the bottom of your E-Bay screen, and then click on "Feedback Forum" at the right top corner of the large menu that pops up.  Type or copy the seller's name into the Feedback Forum's search blank.  If you found this guide helpful, please leave feedback by clicking on the button below.  To read our other guides on carnival and opalescent glass, click on GUIDE INDEX.