Items Sold
Pitkin & Brooks put out some of the best patterns of the Brilliant Period – Mayflower, Duchess and Plymouth to name a few. This bowl shows the high standards they held themselves to.
A unique field of 14 tiny hobstars is a highlight of the Plymouth pattern. These are topped on both sides with cane cutting and surrounded on all sides by vesicas of crosshatching. Dividing each tiny hobstar portion of the pattern is a flat hobstar and a deeper hobstar topped with an unusual crosscut motif. One thing that amazes me is the detailed fan at the edge of the bowl. It combines russian, cane and fan cutting to provide a super boarder. Whenever I see Russian used like this, the piece is always very high quality.
The bowl is quite heavy and the blank is exceptionally clear and vibrant. It measures 8″ wide, 3 7/8″ tall and is in perfect condition.
This 7” plate is in Mt. Washington’s Arbitus pattern. The pattern is so rare, that this is only the second example I’ve ever seen in this pattern. It shows all the fine qualities for which Mt. Washington is well known – precise cutting, quality blanks, and the most precious wood-wheel polishing.
The amount of relief in the depth of cutting of this piece is astounding. Some portions are cut right up to the surface while other miters appear deep enough to break through to the other side. A tremendous amount of accuracy was acheived by the cutter. The central portion of the plate contains a hobstar. Surrounding that hobstar is a myriad of cutting including tiny, flat hobstars, crosshatching, and fully fanned fields. Large hobstars and funs finish off the remaining portion of the pattern.
This piece is quite heavy and thick for its size. The blank is water-white in color and the cutting is wood-wheel polished to mirror-like perfection. The plate measures 7 1/8″ wide and 7/8″ tall and is in perfect condition with the exception of a couple of very tiny nicks to the teeth.
This is a beautiful set in Straus’s Drap (Richmond) pattern. Unfortunately, it does have some damage – there is a handle crack in the sugar bowl and a flake to the lip of the creamer. The good news is, this is a very functional set and is being offered at a bargain price.
The Drape pattern displays beautifully on this set. They somehow managed to make it fit perfectly around all 3 handles. A hobstar sits between a sweeping drap of notched prism and crosshatching. Holding up this structure are two pillars of unusual crosscutting. The handles are finished in the traditional Straus styling – triple-notched but with straight lines rather than curved. The bases are finished with a 16-point hobstar.
The damage mentioned in the first paragraph is the extent of the damage to the set – there is also some minor roughness to the edges of some cuts. The creamer measures 3 1/4″ tall and 4 1/2″ wide and the sugar bowl is 3″ tall and 6″ wide.
This straight sided Banana bowl is quite unusual in that the blank shape is singular. The straight sides and falired out edges really set it apart from the pack. This pattern looks like the work of Elmira but I haven’t found the pattern in their catalog.
This pattern has tons of movement to it. The different motifs seem to loop around like a roller coaster and the sheer amount motifs is impressive. One motif is an oblong shaped hobstar situated in a vesica of crosshatching. The next motif is a richly cut hobstar perched atop parallel miters divided by a clear scallop. Each loop in the pattern seems to link to a band of cane that surround a central hobstar.
The bowl is in perfect condition and measures 10 1/4″ long ,5 7/8″ wide, and 4 3/8″ tall. The blank is figured but is quite clear and vibrant.
While I sell quite a bit of impressive pieces every year, it’s seldom I (or anyone else for that matter) offer a piece this grand. No matter where this bowl is placed, it steals the spotlight from all other pieces around it. If you’re looking for that world-class piece that nobody else has, this is the one. This is a deep, flat-bottom 10″ bowl in American Cut Glass Company’s (William C. Anderson’s company) Fan Border pattern. This pattern is far and above all the rest of the Anderson patterns and if I didn’t own a piece in this pattern already, I would never sell this bowl. To me there is arguably more work and overall aesthetic design characteristics in this pattern than Aztec, Marcella, Grand Prize, Kensington or any of the other coveted Libbey/Anderson patterns. The cutting is exceptionally brilliant and the blank of the clearest quality. From my knowledge and experience, there are literally only a handful of pieces in this pattern and this is probably the largest one – next to an ice cream platter I just learned of.
All of the Anderson design elements are there, but elevated to stratospheric heights. Clear button hobstars are sperad throughout the pattern. Dividing up bands of cane, notching and creating an additional interior 6-point hob star formation. Even something as simple as crosshatching is enhance on this bowl to something as fine as a grain of sand. While there is a ton of cutting on this bowl, the clear button hobstars, and knobs in the cane provide the perfect striking contrast to the busy pattern. The precisions is astonishing – there are deep miters throughout the bowl, but consistently in the same places throughout there are miters that meet halfway into a deeper miter. I find the Fan Border pattern to be the best design of the Brilliant Period and everytime I look at this bowl, it gleams proudly back at me.
The bowl is enormous because of the flat bottom and measures a large 10″ wide and 4″ deep. This masterpiece is in perfect condition with only a few fleabites in the cutting. Staring into this bowl is like watching a never ending fireworks show – it dazzles and delights the senses and leaves you wishing that all pieces could have been made with this much care and quality.
For those of you who haven’t met him, Tom Duncan is a legend in the cut glass circle. For many moons he was the premier dealer of all things cut glass and is still a wealth of information. Always honest, generous and well respected, it is only fitting that a pattern this grand be named after Tom Duncan (by Pearson). Prior to this piece, the only piece in this pattern that was ever known to exist was a large 16″ tray which Tom owned and donated to the Museum of American Cut & Engraved Glass in Highlands, North Carolina. It’s unfortunate, but that piece has a crack. So really, what you’re looking at on this page is the only known, non-broken piece in this pattern. And boy is it precious.
The pattern is absolutely stellar. It’s hard to decide what to look at first. The center of the tray is covered with 7 of the sharpest, most brilliant hobstars you will ever see. Spurting forth from each of these are bands of notched prism anchored by hobstars. This notched prism houses anywhere from 19-20 flat hobstars which are all squared off and framed. This strikes me as particularly unusual and makes the pattern that much more dazzling. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this technique used. Lying in between each of these “houses” of hobstar are larger, deep hobstars including two enormous ones on either end of the tray. The pattern is just a plain knock-out. Stunning in every sense of the word.
The blank is second to none and the tray measures 18″ long and 10 1/2″ wide. The tray has a couple of small nicks to some miters but is in perfect condition otherwise. Judging by my research, you will never find another piece in this pattern and certainly not one this nice. The blank, design and execution are all better than just about any other example out there!
This vase is cut in J.D. Bergen’s very rare and highly sought-after Plymouth (Cornucopia) pattern. This is absolutely the finest example of this pattern I’ve ever seen where both form and cutting meld in complete harmony. I love the fact that the swirled, banded cornucopia-like cutting is repeated in the center of the vase keeping a theme of continuity throughout.
The Plymouth pattern consists of a beautifully cut hobstar. Underneath and climbing up the sides of each hobstar is fine crosshatching which creeps into every crevice of that star. Dividing each hobstar is a swirled cornucopia divides each hobstar. Starting at one common point, deep miters swirl upwards and meet a band from which they are richly contained. What’s really impressive is that the peak of each miter has an additional miter sitting on top of it-the skill it took to cut that throughout the entire pattern strikes me as near impossible, yet they did it with such precision. In the center of the vase, their is another crosshatched band which holds even more of this swirled miter cutting. Equally impressive as the pattern is a swirled, clear tusk column to finish of the body of the vase. Clear tusks were one of hte hardest motifs to cut, so I can’t even imagine how they swirled this one so accurately to almost look like liquid glass. I’ve taken what I consider to be an incredible photo looking down into the vase which captures all of the sychornized movement through all the different motifs. The swirl is outrageous and makes anyone think, “How did they do that?” or “How did they think to do that?” An incredible touch to an already magnificent vase. The base, not to be outshown by the rest of the piece, is finished with a large 24-point hobstar.
This vase measures 9 5/8″ tall and 4 1/2″ across the base. is in perfect condition with the exception of a couple of scratches in the interior of the vase. The quality of this vase should be obvious to anyone looking upon it – from the most advanced of collectors to someone who has never seen a piece before. I have never seen such a wonderful marriage of form and pattern and the extra effort the put in every nook and cranny shows what Bergen though of this piece. Clearly a piece that leaves an impression.
While most Brilliant Period knife rests were imports or contained very generic work, like lapidary ends, this is a particularly unusual example.
Fields of hobnail cover either end of this barbell knife rest. Each one is divided by crosshatching and either end is topped with a rayed star. I love the cutting on the neck of the rest. The cutting makes it appear that the knife rest’s center is undulating up and down, when really it’s just deep scallops that have been cut out of the glass.
The rest is 5″ long, 2″ tall and in perfect condition.
This is a pattern I’ve only ever seen 3 times. Each example was signed (this one included) Egginton and the quality of each was top-notch. It’s perhaps the best unknown Egginton pattern. The blank of this piece is quite unusual-it’s part crimp bowl, part rollover and the pattern adapts particularly well to this form.
Deep circles were supposedly one of the hardest types of cutting in the Brilliant period. This bowl takes that motif one step further – the clear portion of the circles are so large, so deep and so clear that they set this piece apart from any other circle-style pattern I’ve seen. The clear circles contain a very unusual hobstar cluster. This cluster is almost like a Hobstar flower with a central large hobstar center and small petal-like hobstars. All the points of this formation are filled in with crosshatching which is another touch of care. Stemming down from 4 large outer hobstars are bands of hexagonal fans which all cross in the center a square hobstar. The level of detail in this pattern is incredible.
The blank quality shouldn’t go unnoticed either. The clarity highlights those large circles unlike any clear circle pattern I’ve seen. The bowl is in perfect condition but does have some light surface scratching that I’m mentioning for accuracy. This piece has a maximum diameter of just over 10″ and is 2 1/2″ tall.
This is a really unique bowl in Dorflinger’s Victor pattern. This pattern was always done with a lot of care and all of the examples I’ve ever witnessed were of great quality. I love how the clear areas in the pattern really capture light and show off the quality of the glass. The blank is quite unique in its flair and almost crimped rim.
The beautiful Victor pattern consists of two chains of clear-button hobstars both around the outside and interior of the pattern. In between the two chains is notched prism cutting with varying widths of clear glass in between each one. This creates the beautiful light catching mechanism I mentioned. The center of this piece is finished with a gorgeous 24-point hobstar. Every inch of the cutting was smoothed over to radiant like brilliance with a wood-wheel. It’s just incredible Dorflinger work.
This is not only a very large piece, but also the blank is extremely thick and heavy. The bowl measures 10 3/4″ long, just under 10″ wide, and 3 1/4″ tall.
I’d love to know who made this piece – it is of extremely high quality and skillful cutting.
The pattern of this star-shaped plate features a central hobstar surrounded by some fields of crosshatching which further extend the star theme. After this central portion of the pattern, there are extremely deep, tiny 8-pointed stars. Each one makes a knob on the exterior of the piece from the great depth. The outer portion of the pattern features cane cutting, crosshatching and the most difficult motif to cut – clear tusks. The skill and attention to detail on the plate is astounding. How did they so accurately cut such small and difficult motifs?
The plate is in good condition, but does have one small chip in the cutting in addition to another very small one to the rim. The plate is on a very thick blank for the size and measures 6 1/4″ wide and 1 1/2″ tall.
There is a story that I’ve heard often about a cutter’s “master work.” Something they made, demonstrating all their skill in order to move forward from their apprenticeship. This was more or less their final exam. I believe this is one of the aforementioned masterpieces. It displays such a wide variety of skilled cut in a completely unknown and unseen pattern. To top it off, the blank is exceptional and weighs a massive 8.5 pounds!
One portion of the pitcher contains two vesicas of stacked hobstars. These start as deep cut hobstars and finish with a fanned center hobstar at the base of each vesica (again think about the variety used in just that one motif). The vesica also contains vertical notching and tiny, detailed, full fans. In between each of these vesicas is cane cutting and some notched prism cutting. Another portion of the pattern consist of detailed hobstar cluster cutting. This is reminiscent of both Hoare and Egginton and might be a clue as to the maker. Above the cluster cutting i probably my favorite portion of the pattern – an ovoid completley spread fan cutting surrounded by notched prism. Rarely is fan cutting used in such a visually stimulating way, but this pitcher nails it. The top of the pitcher has some additional hobstars (like this piece needed more cutting)! The perfectly annealed handle features double notched cutting divided by a stich of crosscutting. The base is covered with a 24-point hobstar.
It’s imperative to comprehend what a hunk of glass this piece is – 8.5 pounds and one look at the extremely thick bottom tells the tale. The blank of this piece is exceptional and the pitcher is in perfect condition. It measures over 11 1/2″ tall and 6″ across the base. Inferior pitchers, in supposed “rare” patterns, sell far far more than this stunning example.
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