American Brilliant Cut Glass

Our website includes information about our collections, visiting and contact information, our online catalog, and digitized materials, among other things. We encourage you to look through the site, including our online FAQ database, Ask a Glass Question.

The Library’s online catalog has references to books, company catalogs, auction catalogs, and other publications. It also provides citations for articles in periodicals and chapters in books and conference proceedings in the Library's collection, primarily from the 1950s to date.

1. Searching by firm name will give you all materials related to that firm.
2. Searching by firm name and “trade catalog?” as a phrase will limit your search to catalogs.
3. Some of the trade catalogs will be available full-text through our online catalog. Although a catalog may have been digitized, it takes some time before it is available through our online catalog. Please let us know if there is one you wish to see. When there is a note at the bottom of the record <Click Here to View Digital Content>, you are able to view the catalog. See a selection of our digitized cut glass catalogs.
4. The “Glass Article Index” provides citations for articles in periodicals and chapters in books and conference proceedings in the library, primarily from the 1950s to date.

You can also search for information on specific types of glass as well, such as bells, knife rests, cigar jugs, etc.

1. Larger firms versus smaller firms
   1. Smaller firms did not have the exposure that the larger firms did. It was usually the larger firms which placed ads in the journals such as Jeweler’s Circular; and in the more general glass trade journals, such as China, Glass and Lamps, and Crockery and Glass Journal. Trade journals were more likely to include paragraphs/articles on firms if those firms advertised in the journals.
2. Tracing smaller firms, especially those active 1900-1918
   1. These often are more difficult to find information on. Smaller firms often had no catalogs, and distribution network.

1. Books on cut glass (bibliography available)
2. Cut glass company trade catalogs (bibliography available)
3. Cut glass blanks catalogs (bibliography available)
4. Journals related to the glass trade
   1.  Jeweler's Circular; Jeweler's Review; Jeweler's Weekly; Keystone; Pottery and Glass; Pottery, Glass and Brass Salesman.
   2. The Rakow Library holds Jeweler’s Circular and Pottery, Glass & Brass Salesman.
      1. For Pottery, Glass and Brass Salesman, note the helpful information in the description on the Trade Journals page.
      2. There is no index to Jeweler’s Circular; each issue of Pottery, Glass and Brass Salesman has its own index and a table of contents.
5. Collections of glass advertisements and articles
   1. Cut glass advertisement collection, 1890-1935
      1. There is an index to some of the ads, by firm; there are additional folders, with several arrangements: chronologically (by year); articles on cut glass in general; photocopies of some of The Man Who Saw column from Pottery, Glass and Brass Salesman
   2. Documents: Advertisements (arranged by decade, with a separate folder for Keystone). Search the online catalog for items.
   3. Bibliography at The Rakow Library: American Cut Glass Advertisements (Folder: Ready Reference: Types)
6. Vertical file: Glass types--Cut glass
7. Cut glass advertisements, American brilliant period.  Edited by Robert J. Smith II and Valerie K. Smith.  4 v. Leawood, KS, 2003. Includes advertisements of various companies from the “Glass ad archives” and the documents collection in the Rakow Library.        
8. Glass company directories will yield  the names of officers, and very brief information but not on patterns
9. Documents: The library has documents (stationery, trade cards, postcards, etc.) which also shed insight into company history.
10. Select archival collections may be of interest in the Rakow Library. See the Special Collections section of this Guide.

1. Catalogs issued by the company with specific patterns and other information
   • Most of the catalogs owned by the Rakow Library are on microfiche and may be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan. Some have also now been digitized and are available through our online catalog.
2. The historical society and public library in the town of the company
3. The state historical society for the state in which the company was located
4. "Trade journals": those periodicals issued which relate to glass company manufacturing and products.
   • Some are owned by the Rakow Library; others are not. Titles owned by the Rakow Library are available through Interlibrary Loan on microfilm. A listing is available from the Rakow Library, with indication of libraries which probably own each title. There is no index to each volume, but only an index of advertisers in most issues. By reading through each issue, looking at the various columns and ads, one can often gather information on a specific company.
5. Additional journals of interest to the cut glass researcher, including: Country Life in America, Scribner’s, Ladies Home Journal, Century, and Harper’s Bazaar
6. Selected websites that may be of use:
   1. American Cut Glass Association (www.cutglass.org).   Part of the website is accessible to everyone, and part is for members only (they can search Hobstar back issues).  Click on the section “Online Research” for access to some digitized cut glass company catalogs.  The following article Smith, Rob. “New online cut glass information: New England  1884 and Clark 1903 catalog”  Hobstar, v. 37, no. 3, Nov. 2014, p. 6286-6288 offers details on what is available on the ACGA website to members. (Periodicals PER NK5112.H68)
   2. A Guide to American Cut and Engraved Glassware (initially created by Jim Haven; now available on Warren Biden’s website House of Brilliant Glass, www.brilliantglass.com). From the website menu, select “Guide to ABCG” (http://www.brilliantglass.com/about_abcg/About_ABCG_Contents.html
   3. You may also find digital copies of trade journals, newspapers and other publications by searching several websites, including:

• Internet Archive (https://archive.org/)
• Hathi Trust (http://www.hathitrust.org/)
• Google Books http://books.google.com/
• Newspapers.com and other subscription databases are available onsite at the Rakow Library (and possibly your local library as well.)

If looking for any materials on a particular company, try searching the company’s name to see what is available. Many of the materials on these sites were published before 1923.

Notes:

There are just a few things Library staff cannot offer. We cannot identify patterns or provide values. We do not have the staff to scan, photocopy, or print out an entire catalog, nor the time to go through an entire catalog, trying to find a pattern in which you are interested. Curators are happy to identify the glass as to the maker and pattern, but cannot provide values. You can send a photograph of your glass item along with any written information you may have to the Museum's Curatorial Department. You may also send an email with an image attached to curatorial@cmog.org or mail a photo to Curatorial Department, Corning Museum of Glass, One Museum Way, Corning, NY, 14830.

Please keep in mind that your research on cut glass is not limited to your visits to Corning. You can borrow some of our materials through Interlibrary Loan. We will be happy to provide you with a copy of our loan policy to share with your local library. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions!