A Touch of Elegance

 

QUESTION: At a recent antique show, I discovered a dealer with a display of unusual antiques. The sign on his booth said “Epergnes and Plateaus.” When I asked him what the many highly polished silver and silverplate and glass pieces were used for, he replied that they were centerpieces from the 19th century. While I couldn’t see a use for either type of ware in today’s casual lifestyle, I was intrigued. He couldn’t tell me very much about their history. What can you tell me about epergnes and plateaus? Are they still being used today?

ANSWER:  Nothing evokes the elegance of the Gilded Age as epergnes and plateaus. While the average person probably has never heard of them, wealthy hosts, who loved to show off to others in their class, would have seen them grace the tables at dinner parties in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The epergne became the highlight of these centerpieces. And to help reflect the candlelight on the table, it often sat on a mirrored glass plateau.

An epergne is a centerpiece which may be used to serve food, as well. At first they were long and low, with a bowl in the center and sweetmeat dishes on either end. Later models often had great height, with a fruit or flower dish in the center surrounded by hanging baskets. These hanging basket dishes could be used to serve nuts or candies. However, a piece like this would most likely have been used for decoration.

Epergnes came in clear glass, cut class in all sorts of colors and decorations, as well as both regular and Sheffield silver plate and, occasionally, sterling silver. 

Hostesses used plateaus, low, flat mirrored glass platforms, on the other hand, to serve light buffets, cookies and cakes, candies and hors d’oeuvres. They usually came with five serving bowls, often used for chips and dip. But the most important utilitarian use for plateaus was to reflect light from candles on the table.

Both plateaus and epergnes were symbols of wealth. Craftsmen used exotic animals to decorate them, fantasizing about what they looked like because they didn’t have prior knowledge.

Centerpieces for fruit and flowers were in great demand in the 19th century. Epergnes and plateaus allowed the designer to use his imagination and ingenuity both in the design and workmanship. Some featured Roman chariots drawn by cupids. Bas reliefs ornamented others. Craftsmen burnished the metal and touched the edges and rims with gold.  Bowls hung from trees and vines or were supported by classic male or female figures.

The typical epergne usually consisted of a tall fruit dish on a metal stand with two lower matching dishes. One by Reed and Barton had a peacock drawing a chariot which held a glass container for flowers. Another featured a rowboat holding children, while Meriden Britannia made a delicate sailboat set on a plateau. A bowl for fruit was set on a pedestal from which sprang a decorative vine-entwined arm holding a cornucopia-shaped glass vase for flowers. 

Craftsmen on both sides of the Atlantic fashioned epergnes, with the fanciest coming from France. Some featured a number of levels, with several shelves. Others had base consisting of a classic figure or exotic animal with dish or vases resting atop its head. Most silver companies made epergnes with sterling as well as gold decoration. 

The English made epergnes as early as the 1860s in Sheffield plate. To complement some of their most elaborate epergnes, manufacturers created plateaus of all shapes and sizes—oval, round, and rectangular—with gadroon or fluted borders in plain or satin finish. They also made them with repousse borders and fancy corners to complement the epergne designs.

The English made epergnes as early as the 1860s in Sheffield plate. To complement some of their most elaborate epergnes, manufacturers created plateaus of all shapes and sizes—oval, round, and rectangular—with gadroon or fluted borders in plain or satin finish. They also made them with repousse borders and fancy corners to complement the epergne designs.

By the mid-1870s, the introduction of silverplate by the Meriden Company stimulated the taste for beautiful pieces at a lower cost. Epergnes and plateaus produced in silverplate became popular on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the popularity of silverplate only lasted until the late 19th century when the falling price of silver made it possible for those who wanted silver epergnes to buy sterling. 

As ornate silver epergnes lost favor with the public for table centerpieces, the simpler glass epergnes came into style. After 1850, glass epergnes became popular, especially those made of frosted glass and opaque milk glass.

The Sandwich Glass Factory and the New England Glass Company, two American firms that both made epergnes. The former’s 1870 catalog offered dainty chalices of fragile glass springing up around a central vase and sometimes cone shaped glass baskets hanging from metal scrolls. Only the smallest flowers and most delicate ferns could be placed in these dainty baskets. While these companies usually made their epergnes of colored glass, in later years, they began to produce ones with clear glass etched bowls, highlighted in gold.

As the Victorian era came to a close, low bowls of ornamental glass, known as berry bowls, began to replace the larger epergnes, which seemed so high and spreading that they seemed more suitable for formal dinners or banquets. It was a matter of convenience, for one thing, which made hostesses decide in favor of these glass berry bowls. They could fill them with fruit or flowers and  leave them on the table throughout the meal. 

Ornamental glass manufacturers like Fenton made berry bowls in many colors and types of glass, with some having two colors of glass fused together so that the lining and exterior surface formed a contrast in color. For example, they lined white opaque glass bowls with green, pink, deep rose; blue, amethyst, brownish-orange, apricot, or yellow glass. They applied a frosted surface to red glass bowls, giving them a satin-like finish. 

Though many ruffled-edge epergne berry bowls can be from 9 to 12 inches in diameter, some companies made them as small as 4 to 5 inches across. Glassmakers made them in various shapes with a variety of edges to go with the overall design of individual epergnes. They gave some a wavy, plaited edge while on others they used large petals which had a twist in the glass near the point of each petal. 

Visitors to the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago could purchase ruffled-edge berry bowls as souvenirs and gifts to relatives and friends. Women also loved to give these colorful and ornate dishes as wedding gifts. Often, they came mounted in a silver plated frame and made a striking table centerpiece, though not as large and elaborate as the traditional epergne. 

After a decline in the use of epergnes at the turn of the 20th century, the makers of carnival glass revived an interest in them by contributing some colorful variations to the traditional epergne designs. The Dugan Glass Company of Indiana, Pennsylvania, made a fishnet epergne using carnival glass. At the same time, the Sowerby Glass Company of Gateshead, England, made a fountain epergne, with glass holders in a sterling frame. The clear glass lilies of this epergne had twisted bases with fluted tops that were marigold in color. One of the rarest carnival glass epergnes, a four-lily version worth over $1,000 in today’s market, was made by Fenton-Imperial Glass Company. 

While epergnes and plateaus may have generally subsided in use, caters to large events like cocktail parties and banquets often use berry bowl epergnes and mirror glass plateaus to display canapes on elaborate buffet tables. 

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 "Victorian America" in the 2026 Summer 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 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 "Federal America" in the 2026 Spring 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.

Give Antique Boxes Renewed Life Through Restoration

 

QUESTION: I have collected antiques for years. I got my start with a writing box I bought in England. But the box needed some tender loving care, so I decided to try restoring it. The most noticeable problem were a couple of missing corner angles on the lid. Do you think the angles were made of brass?  The depth of the voids is about 3 mm. The box, itself, is showing signs of wear. What would you suggest I do to restore it?

ANSWER: Whether or not to refinish an antique box depends on several things, including its condition, value, and what you plan to do with it. Unlike antique furniture, especially pieces made before 1830, antique boxes often require some restoration which actually adds to their value.

The corners on your box would have been brass, so if you can find someone to make these for you, they should be easy to replace. Be sure to glue them with a strong glue. Box makers usually used brass on the corners of better boxes to protect them while traveling. Victorians took writing and other types of boxes along on long trips so that they could communicate to their friends and family back home. It’s not unusual to find boxes from this time period in poor condition. Restoring them isn’t as difficult as doing furniture but can be challenging.

Antique boxes acted as portable storage workhorses for past generations. They served a variety of purposes from document boxes in which to keep valuable papers to writing boxes for correspondence to dressing boxes for grooming while traveling to tea caddies for storing precious tea. Victorians, in particular, loved boxes, and people from all classes used them.

Unfortunately, people handled boxes a lot, so most antique ones aren’t in the greatest shape. Some boxes may have sat on a table in front of a window in the sunlight and became faded over time while others suffered from neglect.

A good example is an Indian sadeli mosaic-covered writing box that outlived its usefulness. Someone decided that instead of tossing it out, they would give it to their children to play with. The children drew all over the beautiful mosaic with crayons and someone did a bad job of pasting a piece of chartreuse felt over the writing surface on the inside. Needless to say, this restoration wasn’t a walk in the park.

Unlike antique furniture made before 1830, many antique boxes will benefit greatly with even modest restoration. And since they’re not large, it doesn’t take a lot of materials or time to restore them.

A 1920’s Cave a Liqueur, a portable liqueur cabinet, was empty and in poor condition when purchased.. In this case, the box needed basic refinishing, but there was nothing inside. Sometimes, it’s necessary to be on the lookout for pieces that will help bring a box back to its almost new state—in this case a crystal liqueur set. Writing boxes usually need replacement inkwells, pens, etc. While it’s possible to find new replacements, it’s more fun to look for antique pieces to fill a particular box.

While restoration usually begins with reviving the wood of the box’s body, it also takes in exterior decorations made of ivory, tortoiseshell, and mother-of-pearl. These materials are all fragile and should be checked for cracks, abrasions, and chips. Metal ornamentation may be missing, dented or creased, or it may just need polishing. Veneers and inlay are much more difficult to repair and may require professional assistance.

Antique boxes also contain small and sometimes specialized hinges and locks that must also be examined for repair, restoration, or replacement. Finding replacements can be a real challenge since many of these may have been made for a particular box.

But minor conservation can do wonders for an antique box. First, tighten any loose screws and gently tap in any loose nails. Repair loose joints with wood glue. Finally, clean the box with a soft lint-free cloth dampened with Murphy’s Oil Soap solution. Do a small area at a time and use another lint-free cloth to dry it. After letting the box dry thoroughly for 24 hours, give it two coats of Minwax paste wax to protect the exterior. Follow the directions on the can.

Dust the interior of the box with a soft shaving brush. If the wood is bare, as with some inner areas of the box, switch to a solvent-based cleaner. Use a toothbrush or toothpick to clean out any crevices. If this has markedly improved the box’s appearance, then it may be a good time to stop.

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 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "In the Good Ole Summertime" in the 2024 Summer 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.

Water, Water Everywhere

QUESTION: I discovered this unique water bottle at a local antiques co-op. While most antique water decanters are solid cut or pressed glass, this one comes apart into two pieces. A metal ring, with a rubber gasket to make the seal tight, screws onto the base. The mark on the bottom edge of the top section reads: Perfection Bottle Co., Wilkes-Barre, PA Pat March 30-97. What can you tell me about this type of water bottle?

ANSWER: You, indeed, have found a unique water bottle. Though a revolutionary idea, this type of water bottle appeared in stores for only a few years.

From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, water bottles were standard items in many American Victorian households. They appeared on dinner tables either alone or with matching glasses and in bedrooms often with a glass that set upside down over the top of the bottle. They also could be found on the nightstands in hotel rooms and steamship cabins, and on tables in railroad lounge cars.

At first, manufacturers made them of elegant cut glass, but that was too expensive for the average person. Some turned to using pressed glass in a variety of patterns which lowered their cost.

However, cleaning these crystal beauties posed a serious problem with hygiene. The bottle’s narrow neck made it hard to get a brush down into it, making it almost impossible to clean the inside surface of the bottle’s bulbous interior. But that changed in 1896 when William B. Fenn came up with the idea of a separating water bottle—one with pieces that could unscrew for easy cleaning. On March 30 of the following year, he applied for and received a patent for it.

Fenn’s separating water bottle had an ingenious design. He made the neck and base two separate pieces, with the bottom edge of the neck fitting inside the top rim of the base. A rubber gasket formed a waterproof seal between the two parts and a metal ring screwed over the joint to lock the pieces in place.

Even though Fenn used glass for his original design, he stipulated in his patent that any material, including ceramics and porcelain, could be used for the bottle, itself, and any metal could be used for the joining ring as long it wouldn’t corrode.

It took nearly three years for Fenn's" bottle to be available to the public.,Priced at $4.50 each when they first came on the market in 1900, they were well beyond the means of the average person. Realizing he had to do something to increase sales, Fenn redesigned the pattern on the bottle so that it could be pressed instead of cut. Suddenly, the price per bottle dropped to 50 cents per bottle, or 34 cents each for a dozen, making the Fenn water bottle affordable for everyone.

Fenn’s invention was so successful that he decided to expand production. By October,1902, consumers could purchase a decanter and stopper in four sizes—half pint, and one, two and three-pint versions. And during 1903; He expanded the line further to include other glass containers, such as   syrup pitchers and cruets, as well as bitters, cologne, and barber bottles, each with a different pattern.

The separating water bottle came in three models—the Royal, with a delicate design imitating cut crystal, the Imperial, also sold in two and three-pint capacities but without a pattern, the Optic, with a succession of single, convex protruding, vertical panels with rounded tops and bottoms, and the Colonial, featuring nine rounded panels with flat bottoms around the base. Each came in two and three-pint sizes, except the Colonial which also came in a half-gallon size.

In 1903, the Perfection Water Bottle Co. and the Sterling Glass Co. combined to create the Perfection Glass.Co. of Washington, Pennsylvania, with William Fenn as one of the initial investors. But the new company was only to last until 1907 when it closed its doors for lack of sales.