Perfume Bottles

AMERICAN 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY GLASS 9“Baron” William Henry Stiegelfounded his glassworks in the 1760s, Hisfirm was the first to produce cut glass andmold blown glass in the colonies. By 1774,his extravagance forced him to sell outcompletely. The Stiegel Glassworks wasknown for colored glass, especially blues,purple and, rarely, amber and for moldblown glass, especially with a daisy pattern.It was also known for enameling, sometimesfigural or floral, in primary colors, a stylebrought to Pennsylvania by Stiegel’sGerman craftsmen and known today asStiegel-type.Early American pressed glass wasmade by pressing liquid glass into metalmolds. The technique was developed inAmerica in the 1820s. It was used by anumber of different companies, whichproduced a wide variety of products,including cologne bottles. Colored pressedglass was produced by the 1860s. Laterpressed glass was often designed to imitatefamous Brilliant Period cut glass patterns.American Brilliant Period CutGlass (1876-1915): This era ofglassmaking is often dated from the 1876Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia,which introduced many consumers to anew style featuring very clear glass,intricately cut on thick blanks. The newmiddle class in America presented a hugemarket for luxury glassware of all kinds.The prevailing Victorian taste of theperiod demanded highly decorated piecesthat only skilled glassmakers couldachieve using hand cutting. The wareswere of the finest full lead crystal (with33% or more lead content; common leadcrystal used half as much lead and glasshas no lead content). Bottles were oftenmade with silver collars or overcaps, andmany of the best examples are in coloredor cased glass. The bottles of the time areoften unsigned or signed soinconspicuously as to be almost invisible.More often, the silver mounts are signed.By 1920, cutting was getting tooexpensive and tastes were tending towardthe less ornate. Cut glass was still popularin perfume bottles and other utilitarianitems, but the patterns were much lessintricate and were less labor-intensive andless expensive to produce.Christian Dorflinger and Sons ofWhite Mills, Pennsylvania (1852-1921) wasrenowned for elaborately cut patterns andfor being chosen by several first ladies fortheir White House glassware services. Mostpieces had only a paper label.5” Dorflinger ruby cut to clear cologne in theHob and Lace pattern, unsigned, c.1880s-1900 $675.T.J. Hawkes of Corning, New York(1880-1903) was a cutting shop thatbought its blanks from the CorningGlassworks. It was one of the few firmsthat manufactured cut glass and mountedits own pieces in sterling, being careful tomark both glass and silver. The companyintroduced the most popular AmericanBrilliant Period pattern, called Russian.Later, it was cut by several othercompanies. In 1903, Hawkes and FredrickCarder formed the Steuben Company.Some Hawkes pieces are marked with an“H” or a shamrock with two hawks.