The Sparkle of American Brilliant Cut Glass

 

QUESTION: I have a large cut-glass bowl that belonged to my grandmother. As I’m fast approaching 70, I was hoping to find a home for it. My adult children have no interest in it. Do people collect cut glass? 

ANSWER: People definitely collect pieces of cut glass, especially American Brilliant cut glass. 

American Brilliant cut glass was a symbol of elegance in Victorian America from around 1850 to the beginning of World War I. Middle class to wealthy people liked to give pieces as wedding and anniversary presents. Immigrants helped supply glass houses in the United States with skilled cutters allowing them to develop a product rivaling European cut glass. Prior to that time, most cut glass pieces came from England, France, and Ireland.

Historians trace the first cut glass to ancient Egypt in 1,500 BCE, where artisans decorated vessels of varying sizes by cuts made by what they believed to have been metal drills. Artifacts dating to the 6th century BCE indicate that the Romans, Assyrians and Babylonians all had mastered the art of cut glass decoration. Slowly glass cutting moved to Constantinople, then on to Venice, and by the end of the 16th century, to Prague. Apparently the art didn’t spread to the Britain until the early part of the 18th century.

The New World didn’t see any cut glass until at least 160 years later. Henry William Stiegel, an immigrant from Cologne, Germany, founded the American Flint Glass Manufactory in Mannheim, Pennsylvania, and it was there in about 1771 that he produced the first cut glass in America.

For the next 60 years, the "Early Period" of American cut glass, pieces were indistinguishable from English, Irish and continental patterns because  most of the cutters originally came to America from Europe. About 1830 American ingenuity and originality began to influence the industry, and a national style began to emerge. This came about the time The United States  was preparing to celebrate her 100th birthday. and what historians term the "Brilliant Period" began. From about 1876 until the advent of World War 1, American cut glass craftsmen excelled all others worldwide, and produced examples of the cut glass art that may never again be equaled.

When American glass manufacturers displayed their cut glass at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, their clear, bright, leaded glass was an immediate sensation. From then on, American cut glass became extremely popular. Most middle-class and wealthy households owned at least a few pieces to grace their elegant holiday tables.

Representatives from eight American glass manufacturers showed off their leaded-crystal goblets, tumblers, decanters, and serving plates at the Exposition. Each of these pieces had been deeply cut by hand on a succession of metal, stone, and wooden wheels. The Brilliant Period lasted from the Centennial celebration until the first decade of the 1900s, when changing tastes and less-expensive pressed glass, which replicated the look of cut glass, pushed the original to the sidelines. In fact, by 1910 manufacturers of the floral, fruit, and geometric patterns in cut glass pressed their pieces first, then cut them, making their pieces less costly to produce.

During the Brilliant Period, over 1,000 cutting shops met the demand. Companies such Dorflinger, Hawkes, Libbey, J. Hoare and Co., T. G. Hawkes, Tuthill, Egginton, and Mt. Washington were highly regarded for the quality of their work, as well as their artistry. 

Some of the most sought-after patterns cut during the American period of cut glass are Wedgemere, Aztec, and Ellsmere by Libbey; Aberdeen by Jewel; Queens, Chrysanthemum, and Nautilus by Hawkes; Assyrian by Sinclaire; Poppy by Tuthill; Wheat by Hoare; and Russian and Comet by several companies. Shapes can also be considered rare, such as tea and coffee pots, table lamps, oil lamps, triple-ring lapidary neck decanters, cake plates, punch bowls, and whiskey bottles.

All glass that’s to be decorated by cutting requires the addition of up to 40 percent lead oxide, a chemical that makes ordinary glass soft enough to cut against moving wheels without shattering. Leaded glass is called "crystal.”

Cutting glass was time consuming. After a worker brought a blank from storage, a designer marked it with outlines of the decoration. The "rougher" began the cutting by holding the blank against a rapidly moving, beveled, metal wheel, kept constantly moistened and cooled by a fine stream of wet sand dripping from an overhanging funnel. He followed the designer's marks, making incisions by pushing the glass down against the wheel. A worker would use various sized wheels to make the many different sized cuts required to complete the design.

Next, the piece went to the "smoother", who went back over all the rough cuts with stone wheels called "craighleiths." The smoother also initially cut some of the small lines on the motifs, as indicated by the design. Finally, the "polisher" finished the piece by polishing each cut with wooden wheels made from willow, cherry or other softwoods. Polishers used rottenstone or pumice with the polishing wheels to give a lustrous appearance to the cut, leaving no imperfections on the gleaming surfaces.

Early in the Brilliant Period, one cutter did all the cutting on a single piece. Since changing wheels to accommodate various sizes and depths of cuts could occupy 60 percent of a cutter's time, manufacturers quickly adapted assembly line methods. By giving each cutter a different sized wheel and by passing a piece from station to station, productivity increased immensely.

Artisans in over 1,000 shops cut hundreds of patterns. Some makers polished glass using wooden wheels while others used acid. Hobstars and fans, strawberry diamonds and flutes, beading and chair caning, are but a few of the motifs that make up American designs. Not all cut glass was of the same quality. While some was excellent, other pieces were just fine, and many were downright inferior. 

Workers cut facets into finished glass pieces by pressing them against a large rotating iron or stone wheel. The nicest pieces of cut glass had a high lead oxide content giving them extra sparkle showing off the exceptional shine of the cutting in this clear glass.

However, as ;the American Brilliant Period progressed, glassmakers turned from hand blowing blanks to blown glass made with molds, and eventually incorporated design elements in the blown mold as well. However, craftsmanship suffered and the overall quality declined.

Manufacturers also changed how they polished pieces, going from hand finishing to a strong acid bath to eliminate sharp edges. This method worked but lacked the same high-quality finish when compared to the earlier handcrafted glass. And to save money and increase profits, decorations became less elaborate, with less swirled cuts and precise points cut into the glass. 

Manufacturers developed and patented stunning new patterns quite unlike earlier European designs. They gave patterns intriguing names, and leading glass houses began advertising campaigns urging collection of whole sets of goblets, tumblers, wine glasses and finger bowls in the new designs. Cutting shops proliferated to meet the demand for fine pieces of cut glass being sought by wealthy American households.

By 1908 less than 100 cut class workshops remained. A number of leading companies continued to maintain their high standards throughout the waning years, attracting the finest designers and most skilled craftsmen, who from 1908 to 1915 produced some of the most elegant patterns of cut glass ever created. 

The outbreak of World War I dealt the final blow. Lead oxide, an essential ingredient in glass made for cutting was needed for the war effort, and by the time the war ended, the few factories that had managed to survive used their resources to produce less costly glass.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 50,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Colonial America" in the 2026 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Luggage for the Long Haul

 

QUESTION: I recently purchased a vintage trunk. It has no makers mark on the bottom or inside, so I was wondering what year it was made and who made it.

ANSWER: What you have is a flat-top steamer trunk, which from the looks of it, probably dates to between the 1910s and 1920s..

Steamer trunks, which got their name from their storage location on a steamer ship, first appeared in the late 1870s, although most date from between 1880 and 1920. While some had flat tops, those with rounded tops were for those who wanted to try to have their trunk placed  on the top of piles in the baggage compartments, so they wouldn’t be damaged. When people traveled, they did so for longer periods because travel by train, and especially sailing ships or coastal steamers, was slow. 

Steamer trunks generally came in many styles, including the Jenny Lind, Saratoga, monitor, steamer or cabin, barrel-staves, octagon or bevel-top, wardrobe, dome-top, barrel-top, wall trunks, and even full dresser trunks. Since these differing styles only lasted for a decade or two, and—along with their hardware—can be extremely helpful in dating an unmarked trunk.

Trunks generally consisted of a base trunk box made of pine covered with protective and decorative materials. Some of the earliest trunks sported studded hide or leather and looked much like the furniture of the same period since many furniture makers also produced trunks. Later coverings included paper, canvas, plain or embossed tin, with an uncounted assortment of hardware and hardwood slats to hold it down.

There were hundreds of trunk manufacturers in the United States. A few of the larger and well known companies included Rhino Trunk & Case, C.A. Taylor, Haskell Brothers, Martin Maier, Romadka Bros., Goldsmith & Son, Crouch & Fitzgerald, M. M. Secor, Winship, Hartmann, Belber, Oshkosh, Seward, and Leatheroid. One of the largest American manufacturers of trunks was Seward Trunk Company of Petersburg, Virginia. Shwayder Trunk Company of Denver, Colorado later became Samsonite. Another was the English luxury goods manufacturer H.J. Cave trading since 1839. Some of the better known French trunk makers included Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Moynat, and Au Départ.

The easiest way to date any trunk is by examining its style. The Jenny Lind trunk, named after the Swedish singer who toured the United States between 1850 and 1852, had a distinctive hour glass or keyhole shape when viewed from the side.

Saratoga trunks, on the other hand, were the premium trunks of many manufacturers and   encompassed nearly every other style of trunk manufactured before the 1880s. Saratogas had a variety of complex compartments, trays, and heavy duty hardware.

Monitor-tops date from the late 1870s to the late 1910s. They had rounded front and rear corners which formed a lying-down "D" when viewed from the side. Earlier examples usually included labor-intensive hardwood slats while there was a revival much later with rarer, all-metal ones being used.

Steamer trunks, sometimes referred to as flat-tops, first appeared in the late 1870s, although most of them date date from the 1880s to the 1920s. Their flat or slightly curved tops, usually covered in canvas, leather or patterned paper, distinguished them from others. They stood about 14 inches tall to accommodate steamship luggage regulations. Some old catalogs referred to them as "packers," while a "steamer" trunk actually referred to one often called a cabin trunk.

Cabin trunks, often called "true" steamer trunks, were the equivalent of today's carry-on luggage. They were low-profiled and small enough to fit under the berths of trains or in the cabin of a steamer. Manufacturers made them with flat tops and an inner tray compartment to store the owner's valuables deemed too valuable to stow in the baggage  car or ship's hold.

Barrel-staves, made from the late 1870s to the mid-1880s had horizontal instead of vertical slats, giving them a distinctive look.

Bevel-tops, dating from the 1870s to 1900, had a distinct trapezoidal shape when viewed from the side, although the earlier ones usually had a much shorter flattened top section than the later ones.

Wardrobe trunks had to be stood on end to be opened and had drawers on one side and hangers for clothes on the other. Many of the better ones also included buckles/tie-downs for shoes, removable suitcases/briefcases, privacy curtains, mirrors, and makeup boxes. Because of their large size and weight, people used these for extended travel by ship or train.

A dome-top trunk had a high, curved top that could rise up to 25 to 30 inches. Included were camel-backs which had a central, vertically running top slat that was higher than the others, hump-backs which were the same but had no slat in the center of the top, and barrel-tops, which had high arching slats that were all the same height. These trunks date from the 1870s to the 1900s.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 50,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Colonial America" in the 2026 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Colorful World of Jasperware

 

QUESTION: Recently, while browsing in an antique shop, I came upon a small display plate with a Classical relief decoration. The plate looked like Wedgwood ware but its background color was sort of a pale salmon pink color with cream-colored decoration. The only Wedgwood pieces I’ve ever seen have been a light blue with white decoration. Since the price was low—the dealer said she didn’t think it was real Wedgwood but a contemporary copy—I bought it. Is this plate real Wedgwood? And if so, why the pink background color?

ANSWER: You got a real bargain. Your plate was, indeed, made by Wedgwood and because it’s pink, is on the rare side. Wedgwood introduced pink Jasperware in the late 19th century and never made it in large quantities. The pale rose color gave a delicate and romantic appearance to small decorative boxes and medallions. Today, pink pieces can sell for $500 to $1,200. 

Noted English potter Josiah Wedgwood invented Jasperware in 1774 after conducting over 5,000 carefully recorded experiments over several years.  Wedgwood made Jasperware of a dense white stoneware which accepted colors throughout its body and not just on the surface.

Usually described as stoneware, it has a smooth texture and unglazed matte "biscuit" finish. Wedgwood experimented with different colors and at first produced it in a pale blue that became known as "Wedgwood blue." Relief decorations in contrasting colors—usually in white but also in other colors—gave his pieces their characteristic  cameo effect. He produced the reliefs in molds and applied them to the ware as sprigs.

After several years of experiments, Wedgwood began to sell Jasperware in the late 1770s, at first making it in small objects, but adding vases from the 1780s onwards. It was extremely popular, and after a few years many other potters devised their own versions. 

The decoration was initially in the fashionable Neoclassical style, which became especially popular in the beginning of the 19th century. But Jasperware could also be made to suit other styles. Wedgwood turned to leading artists outside the usual world of Staffordshire pottery for designs. High-quality portraits, mostly in profile, of leading personalities of the day were a popular type of decoration, matching the fashion for paper-cut silhouettes. The wares were made into a great variety of decorative objects but not as tableware. Three-dimensional figures are normally found only as part of a larger piece, and are typically in white.

In his original formulation, Wedgwood tinted the mixture of clay and other ingredients  throughout by adding dye. Later, workers merely covered the formed but unfired body  with a dyed slip, so that only the body near the surface had the color. These types are known as "solid" and "dipped." The undyed body was white when fired, sometimes with a yellowish tinge. Workers added cobalt to the decorative elements of the pieces that were to remain white.

To add a bit of class ins marketing his ware, Wedgwood named it a after the mineral jasper.

Barium sulphate was a key ingredient. Ten years earlier, Wedgwood introduced a different type of stoneware called black basalt. He had been researching a white stoneware for some time, creating a body called "waxen white jasper" between  1773 and 1774. But this tended to fail in firing and wasn’t as attractive as the final Jasperware.

Besides its most common shade of pale blue, Jasperware came in a variety of other colors, including dark blue, lilac, sage green, black, and yellow. Sage green resulted from adding chromium oxide, blue to cobalt oxide, and lilac to manganese oxide, yellow to a salt of antimony, and black from iron oxide. Other colors sometimes appeared, including white used as the main body color, with applied reliefs in one of the other colors. The yellow is rare. A few pieces, mostly the larger ones like vases, use several colors together, and some pieces mix Jasperware and other types together.

Wedgwood dyed or stained the earliest Jasperware throughout and it has become known to collectors as "solid," but before long most pieces had colored slip applied  only on the surface. These became known as "dipped." Wedgwood first dipped his pieces in 1777 due to the high cost of cobalt oxide. By 1829 Jasperware production  had virtually ceased, but in 1844 production resumed making dipped wares. Solid Jasperware didn’t appear again until 1860.

Generally, Wedgwood made Jasperware into Neoclassical vases with heavily stylized Neoclassical cameos. Many of these cameos depict famous scenes from Greek literature and modern interpretations of Greek literature.

Shortly after discovering how to make Jasperware, Wedgwood went into business and started producing it in large quantities from a factory based in Staffordshire, England. In order to confuse potential competitors about the ingredients he used, he had the minerals for his clay ground in London, and then brought to Staffordshire in powdered form.

To discourage corporate espionage, Wedgwood made sure that no single one of his workers had a complete understanding of the process for making Jasperware, the formula for which he kept secret. By dividing up factory tasks and forcing his workers to become extremely specialized, he prevented them from becoming competitors.

Jasperware was Wedgwood’s most important contribution to ceramics. With its timeless style and class, it has become an enduring luxury material, beloved by collectors the world over for more than 250 years.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 50,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Colonial America" in the 2026 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Toasty Warm on a Cold Winter’s Night

 

QUESTION: Recently while browsing in an antique shop, I came upon a strange-looking object. It appeared to be made of clay in the shape of a short log and had what looked like a hole on top in which rested a stopper. Both ends were closed and rounded, with a chunky knob protruding from the front end. The antiques dealer told me it was a hot water bottle. The only hot water bottles I know of are the ones made of rubber. Can you tell me more about this object?

ANSWER: The strange object is indeed a hot water bottle. Few things compare to the cozy warmth provided by a hot water bottle. Before the invention of the rubber hot water bottle, most people used one made of stoneware. Though these were heavy and clunky, they served the purpose.

Most people had one hot water bottle in the house. Made of stoneware, a white clay fired at a high temperature and glazed so that it resembled polished stone, so most people called it just a “stone.” However, the Scottish children saw a bit of whimsy in them, believing that they looked like a little pig, so they coined the name “Bed Pig.” Actually, the name “pig” isn’t related to pigs at all. It's a Scottish word for a round pot.

The seals on these bottles weren’t very good, so naturally people used them only when it was bitterly cold. Often the stone cap would be replaced with a cork to seal in the hot water. Though they were heavy, they could still crack and leak, which would burn whoever was in bed and make the bed wet.

Some mothers believed that it was healthy to get into a cold bed. In winter it was usually very cold in bed, as most people didn’t light fires in their bedrooms for fear of falling asleep with the fire going. Also, windows had single glazing, not like the multiple glazing of those today. It wasn’t uncommon for people to wake up to ice on the insides of their windows from frozen condensation.

Stoneware hot water bottles had been around since the early 19th century and perhaps before. The idea was to fill them with hot water, close the stopper securely and stand them in a bed, upright, on their small flat ends so that the sheets and blankets formed a tent-like structure over them. The peak of the '”ent” was the special feature of the rounded knob opposite the flat end, which also served as a carrying handle. One of the primary manufacturers of stoneware hot water bottles was Langley Ware of England.

People believed that using the hot water bottle this way heated more of the bed, but it was an unstable arrangement and the “tent” would have been quite small, as even with the knob to give extra height, the hot water bottle, itself, stood only about a foot tall. To make sure the entire bed warmed up, users would move them around in the bed periodically for an hour or two before climbing into bed.

Large stoneware hot water bottle also served as a foot warmer. The stoneware hot water bottle was cylindrical but also had a flat side. Ladies would fill the bottle with hot water and lay it on its side on the floor in front of a chair by the fire. Since they wore long dresses, they could take off their shoes and place their feet on the rounded top of the bottle, then pull the skirt of their dress over their feet to hide them. This way no one could see that they had taken off their shoes and were warming their feet. They often took these bottles with them in the carriage when the weather was very cold, doing much the same thing as they did in their parlors.

Hot water was also used in glass or ceramic pots that sealed in the hot water with a cork. Not many glass hot water bottles survived but the ceramic containers continued in production for many years well into the 20th century.

Because they were mass produced and very robust, many stoneware hot water bottles have survived, so their antique value isn’t a lot. But many can still be used today and will be for years to come to keep people warm and toasty on a cold winter’s night.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 50,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Sacred Artifacts" in the 2025 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Place to Hang a Pocket Watch for the Night

 

QUESTION: Recently, while browsing a local antique show, I came across a dealer with a display of oddly looking little pieces. They didn’t seem to have any function and each had a large hole or cavity, so I asked her what they were. She said they were pocket watch holders. I had never seen anything like them before since pocket watches went out of style in the mid 20th century. Why would a person need a pocket watch holder? Wouldn’t they just place their pocket watch on a chest top or nightstand at the end of the day? What can you tell me about these curious little items?

ANSWER: During the 19th Century people used pocket watch holders, often referred to as a watch hutches, to hang their pocket watches in overnight to protect them from loss or damage—it’s better for the watch mechanism if it hangs vertically rather than lying flat. These watch holders also converted any pocket watch into small table or mantel clocks in a room that didn't contain a clock. They also made perfect bedside clocks, before the advent of alarm clocks.

During the second half of the 19th Century, cast iron was the most common material for making pocket watch holders. Artisans covered these unsightly cast pieces with gilded bronze to simulate gold. Artisans sculpted the original designs to represent forms in nature, such as vines and leaves or figural representations of country life. Mounted on a marble base and standing between 7 and 8 inches tall, they were quite heavy.

Each holder featured either a round frame with a metal pocket in which to place the watch, or a metal hook from which to hang it. Fanciful designs often featured Baroque cherubs.

Craftsmen cast less expensive versions in spelter, a heavy zinc and lead alloy, over which they applied a bronze wash or brightly colored paint. They sculpted the originals of animals or single figurines. One example shows a peasant girl carrying a garland wreath. Another depicts a young girl in a sheer, swirling dress which swirls in front to form a tray for cufflinks, watch chain, or coins. Still another example, depicts a parrot either about to land on or take off from a branch and painted a bright chartreuse and red.

The French called them porte montre, meaning “watch stand.” Parisian artisans fashioned ornate watch holders for wealthy travelers visiting Paris on the Grand Tour. Pocket watches were a necessity during this era and fine shops along the Palais Royal specialized in selling unusual and whimsical accessories to hold pocket watches at the end of the day.

These holders came in a variety of decorative styles, from Neoclassical to Regency and on to the opulence of Napoleon III. After the 1860s, watch holder makers explored the styles of the day, such as Rococo Revival and Renaissance Revival. As the 20th century dawned, artisans created holders in the styles of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts—and by the mid-1920s, Art Deco.

Parisian artisans created some of the most elaborate pocket watch holders. Resembling a larger version of the famed Limoge porcelain box, these became known as a casque porte montre, or pocket watch casket.

By the late 19th century watch holders could be found in a vast variety of shapes and forms. Champlevé, an enameling technique in which craftsmen carved, etched, die struck, or cast troughs into the surface of a metal object, then filled these troughs with vitreous enamel. was especially popular. After the initial preparation, they then fired the piece until the enamel fused, and when cooled, polished the surface of the object. The uncarved portions of the original surface remained visible as a frame for the enamel designs. The name, champlevé comes from the French for "raised field," or background, though the technique in practice lowers the area to be enameled rather than raising the rest of the surface.

Developed in the late 19th Century, these little gems usually often featured a beveled glass box mounted on sculpted brass legs. While some had an eglomise, or back painted view of Paris, most were clear glass.

One fine example is a French cristal d' opale rose “hortensia” or “gorge de pigeon,” hand embellished with raised enamel flowers and gilt accents. The rich iridescent pink “hortensia” opaline glass is beautifully supported by delicate ormolu mounts.

One of the more unusual examples of a watch holder originated during the gilded age of Napoleon III. Made in the form of a soldier's helmet which sits on a white marble base, its hand cut gilded brass is meticulously tooled to form the front and back of the hat. The crown of the helmet is of white opaline, with a gilded brass finial. It has a hand tooled gilded mount at the bottom. The helmet top opens to reveal a pocket watch holder mounted with a gilded brass frame. A "U" shaped hook at the top holds the watch while the interior, lined with red velvet, is typical of this opulent period.

Pocket watch holder makers also produced dramatic designs drawn from Nature. On one example, an eagle with its wings outspread and perched on a festoon of arrows and laurel leaves, holds an elongated hook. The top of the piece has a very large cartouche made of two curved cornucopia and a central swan, with neck curved downward, perched on a fleur de lis. A half-moon festoon of laurel leaves flow from one cornucopia to the other.

Also originating in Paris is cast bronze watch holder, designed by 19th-century French artist, Emile Joseph Cartier, featuring a little bird alighting atop a cascading vine of leaves which spill onto the base of the bottom mount. The detail of the little bird—its feathers, sweet expression, and outstretched wings give him a very lifelike appearance. In his beak he holds a curved stick onto which to hang a watch. A half-egg shape bowl, ornamented with leaves and berries, which could hold coins or other jewelry items, rests below him.

Yet another, made of bronze/metal, features painted detailing to give the effect of fine porcelain. The chubby little body of a cherub with his hands outstretched stands on a cradle made from an egg. He has delicate wings and wears a quiver around his waist, as well as delicate detailing to his fingers and toes and the feathers of his wings. His bow serves as the support for the pocket watch, which hangs within the sculpture design.

Specifically designed and carved as souvenirs are a group of pocket watch holders from towns in the 19th-century "Black Forest" area of Switzerland, Germany, parts of France and Italy, where they pleased travelers on the Grand Tour. These hand carved treasures range from whimsical small bears to large watch holders and wall plaques showing the most realistic anatomical studies of stag, fowl, and "fruits of the hunt."

One of the most important French artists of the 1920s, Maurice Frecourt, known for his animal sculptures, produced watch holders in the sleek style of Art Deco. After the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, designers embraced the geometric style of Art Deco. One of his watch holders features a stylized bird standing at the edge of a bowl with its wings up and touching and mounted on a black and green veined piece of octagonal marble. He engraved this piece with detailed feathers both in front and in the back.

Some pocket watch holders imitated other clock cases, only in miniature. Each evening the pocket watch owner placed his watch into the hole where the clock face would be.

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Country Furniture with a Folksy Flair

 

QUESTION: I recently attended an auction in central Pennsylvania. Included in the many lots were several pieces of attractively painted furniture. I was particularly drawn to a couple of what I thought were blanket chests, decorated with folk art motifs. But when they came up for bid, the auctioneer called them bridal chests. I’d like to know more about type of painted furniture. What is the origin of folk-art painted furniture? 

ANSWER: Handpainted folk art furniture was highly influenced by cultural traditions brought to America by immigrants. 

The peak of handcrafted folk art painted furniture ran from the 1790s to the 1880s. There weren’t any real art schools and not all that many fine artists in the early 19th century. Many talented individuals became commercial painters and worked with special skill on furniture, signs and other useful objects.

From the 1870s on, Mennonites from Poland, Russia and Prussia settled in the Dakotas and Nebraska, bringing their tradition of grain painting on light wood with them. The Mennonites decorated large wardrobes, dowry chests, tables and sofas with these patterns, and also embellished furniture with small floral motifs from the old country.

English cabinetmakers who settled in many parts of the country helped spread the style for painted English neoclassical chairs based on the designs of George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton.

But the do-it-yourself idea, too, started early in the 19th century when young girls learned how to paint furniture and wooden boxes with watercolors. Cabinetmakers varnished the decorated pieces which featured landscapes, figures, fruits, animals, and flowers.

Itinerant painters and craftsmen lent their artistic expertise to the production of painted furniture pieces such as chairs, settees, armoires, cabinets, chests, benches, and other functional pieces. Many of these were European emigrants who brought many distinct regional styles and art forms to America.

By the early 20th Century, painted furniture began to have an impact on American culture and design. Classified as folk art or peasant art, these painted pieces became especially popular.

German immigrants used furniture painted in the German folk style, such as chairs, storage chests, tables, schranks, dressers, benches, and trunks. German folk furniture was utility-based, simple country furniture that remained significantly less influenced by the national and international design trends. Painter decorators drew inspiration from local tastes, preferences, history, culture, traditions, and heritage. Folk furniture was handmade using elaborate joints, often involving painting and carving to depict animals, scenes of daily life, geometric shapes, bears, and birds. Furniture makers used locally available woods like spruce, pine, beech, oak, birch, ash, and maple.

As elsewhere in Europe, national and international art trends targeted the wealthy. However, some elements filtered down to the provincial regions, influencing the works, skills, and tastes of local artisans. Since Germany had abundant forests, local artisans used a variety of woods to produce unique furniture.

Most of these pieces were distinctive of a particular region and period. Since Germany had a long and complicated history, the style and design of German folk furniture items varied depending on a piece's period and area of origin.

With the advent of the Renaissance in the early 16th-century, most European nations saw significant changes in the design and style of furniture. However, the cabinetmakers of provincial Germany remained largely unaffected by the Renaissance, producing unique Gothic-style furniture.

The Renaissance brought new forms of furniture, including the bridal trunk. Bridal trunks became a standard throughout Europe. The provincial German population would often personalized these bridal trunks with hand-painted designs.

Today, thanks to the popularity of painted furniture in antiques stores and the American trend for relocation, a piece from one section of the country may turn up in another.

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