IAN SIMMONDS

Eighteenth century English cosmetic jars of a form excavated in Philadelphia were the prototype for a small American ribbed vessel.

The earliest ceramics, silver, furniture and glass made in and near Pennsylvania combined English forms and Germanic technique.

Strikingly similar in form, two thistle-shaped vases with knopped stems and round, flat feet represent opposite extremes of 1830s’ decoration.

In the 1830s, cut glass was a highly prized luxury article. Cut decoration required a considerable amount of effort and expense. The extravagant, all-over decoration of this vase was a widely recognized sign of wealth and distinction.

From the middle of the 18th Century, German craftsmen in Pennsylvania and neighboring New Jersey and Maryland added a distinctive twist to what were typical English forms. What remains is some of the most delightful and exciting of American decorative arts, from the furniture of Lancaster County to the glass sugar bowls of Wistarburg, pokals of New Bremen and flasks of Manheim.

After the War of Independence this creative energy steadily migrated west to Pittsburgh and beyond. A battleground in the War of 1812, by 1815 the rich agricultural land of central and northern Ohio was again becoming settled. Connecticut's former Western Reserve was a target for New Englanders escaping the crop failures of 1816's 'year without a summer'. Further south migrants floated down the Ohio from Pittsburgh to enter Ohio's farmlands along the deep valleys of the river's northern shore.

In 1840 a representative of the Meissen porcelain factory in Dresden, Germany, complained that they had received so few "new glass samples since 1838" that the factory may be forced into "the invention of their own designs."

This porcelain compote is a copy by Meissen of the "pressed glass from North America with the most appealing designs ... and ... distinctive appearance" that was on sale at the Leipzig fair in 1835. A closer look emphasizes that it is a copy of a familiar Sandwich design. Other pieces such as those at the Bennington Museum copy equally iconic American designs including the base of a familar covered dish.

While tableware was usually the product of lead glass manufacturers, a group of rare and highly valued pitchers, decanters and sugar bowls was made at remote window glass factories for local consumption.

With its brilliant aquamarine glass and characteristic form this sugar bowl is typical of northeastern New York state or neighboring New England. The bowl flares from a slightly kicked up base to a curved shoulder beneath a galleried rim. A closer look at the domed lid reveals a folded rim and a drawn knop containing a swirl of amber. Similarly sized tiny bubbles are scattered throughout both the lid and the bowl.

This fine pressed vegetable dish is a classic example of America’s first great contribution to glass technology - the invention of machine pressing.

The subtly curving open-handled lid fits neatly into a matching gallery in the equally subtly-shaped base. A closer look at the lid and base reveals many period motifs: scrolls, hearts, thistles, roses, baskets of fruit, foliage and wreaths. Stippling and fine parallel lines fill the background creating the effect of lace, causing the dish and cover to glisten like the finest cut glass.