Pitcher

Manufacturer New England Glass Company American, 1818-1888

ManufacturerOr W.L. Libbey and Son Glass Company

Date1889-1890

DimensionsH: 21.9 cm (8 5/8 in.); Rim Diam: 9.8 cm (3 7/8 in.); Max Body W: 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.); Base Diam: 9.8 cm (3 7/8 in.)

MediumMaize glass opaque ivory; mold-blown and enameled.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1968.8

Not on View

Collections

Glass

Published ReferencesAdvertisements, Crockery and Glass Journal, New York, July 18, 1889, p. 3, and August 8, 1889, p. 6.

Revi, Albert C., American Pressed Glass and Figure Bottles, New York and Toronto, Nelson, 1964, p. 258, no. 902, top left (repr. of 1889 advertisement).

The Toledo Museum of Art, Art in Glass: A Guide to the Glass Collections, Toledo, Ohio, 1969, repr. p. 115.

Newman, Harold, An Illustrated Dictionary of Glass, London, Thames and Hudson, 1977, repr. p. 191, top.

Fauster, Carl U., Libbey Glass Since 1818, Toledo, Ohio, Len Beach Press, 1979, repr. p. 226, fig. 1, top left, no. 902 (repr. of advertisement, W. L. Libbey and Son Company, Pottery and Glassware Reporter, August 1889, where it is called Maize Art Glass), repr. fig. 2, bottom right.

Wilson, Kenneth M., American Glass, 1760-1930: The Toledo Museum of Art, New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, [Lanham, Md.]: National Book Network [distributor], c1994; 2 v. (879 p.): ill. (some col.); p. 617, no. 997, colorpl. 997, 579.

Page, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, p. 154, repr. (col.) p. 155.

Zollweg, Robert, 200 Years of Glass: A History of Libbey Glass, Toledo, OH, University of Toledo Press, 2019, fig. 1-11, repr. col. p. 12.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Glassmaking: American Contributions, August 20-September 24, 1978, repr. cover (exhibition brochure)

The Toledo Museum of Art, Libbey Glass: Triumphs of the Factory, 1888-1920, August 14-September 25, 1988 (no catalog).

Charlotte, Mint Museum, On the surface: late nineteenth century decorative arts, 2001, no. 29, p. 67, 106, repr.

Label TextCompetition between American glasshouses for the most spectacular and unusual art glass was heated towards the end of the 19th century. From the 1880s on was the heyday of novelty, or “fancy,” glass. The commercial production of realistic facsimiles of natural forms was not feasible until the widespread use of full-size molds for blowing and pressing glass. This mold-blown Maize Art Glass from about 1889 mimicked ears of Indian corn. Ohio’s Indian corn crop of nearly 60 million bushels ranked first in the nation, and was a point of pride. When Maize glass was introduced, the New England Glass Works had just relocated to Toledo.