Around 1745, the German scientist Johann Heinrich Winkler demonstrated the effects of static electricity by electrifying his assistant, who was then handed a glass of brandy. As soon as he lifted the glass to his mouth, sparks would fly from his tongue and set the brandy on fire. The popularity of such performances, and the unexpected effects related to electricity, triggered the invention of various electrical friction machines—for private and public use—throughout the 18th century.
Winter Frictional Electrical Machine, A. Pichler's Witwe & Sohn Lehrmittelanstalt, Austria, Vienna, 1875-1933. Glass, Cherry Wood, Brass. Static machine consisting of wood and glass framework, a glass disc, and a wooden hoop. Overall H: 125 cm. (2007.3.120)
The core feature of almost all of these devices was a piece of revolving glass that rubbed against fixed pads, thereby creating an electrical charge.
Leyden Jar (left)
The pads are connected to a cylinder-shaped negative conductor, while a hemispherical positive conductor almost touches the glass disk. The most conspicuous feature of this machine, an invention by the Austrian scientist Georg K. Winter, is the large wooden ring, which originally had a thick wire running through its center. The device did not aim for accumulating particularly high charges, but rather to generate long and dense sparks. Together with additional devices, such as a Leyden jar (a condenser that was invented in 1745), it probably served as a teaching tool for high school and college students learning about physics.
The Museum has acquired a rare, early 19th-century American blown-glass creamer for its comprehensive glass collection, which spans 35 centuries.
Cream Jug, United States, Philadelphia, PA, about 1800-1815. Overall H: 12.2 cm, W: 9.3 cm. Knop contains a copper 1794 American Liberty penny.
The small light blue creamer, which measures 12.6 cm high and 5.5 cm in diameter (rim), includes a knop (hollow bubble in the stem) enclosing a 1794 U.S. cent coin—a feature rarely found in American glass of this period. Often, coins included in hand-made glass objects were meant to commemorate a special date, such as an anniversary or birthday.
The creamer was given to Frank W. Hill by his grandmother, Abigail Ware Foote (b. 1819) on January 16, 1860. According to family tradition, it was originally a birthday present for Hill’s great-grandmother, Abigail Whitaker Ware (1781-1865) or her mother Ruth Whitaker. The piece was probably made in the early 1800s, likely at the glass works in Kensington, North Philadelphia. The name of the craftsman who made the creamer is not known. Descendants of Hill sold the piece at auction in August 2012.
“It’s highly unusual for an early American glass object of this caliber to survive and appear on the market,” says Jane Shadel Spillman, the Museum’s curator of American glass. “What’s even more unusual is that this creamer was held by the same family for more than 150 years, so its history is well-known. We are pleased to add this important object to our American glass collection.”
The Museum’s outstanding collection of American glass dating from the early 18th century to the mid-20th century includes more than 11,000 works. The collection showcases the history of American glass production ranging from rare early blown glass to mass-produced bottles and tableware, elaborately cut and engraved glass and decorative art glass.
There are two similar early American 19th-century creamers in the collection; one has a knop with Spanish coin dated 1781. The new blue creamer is now on view in the Museum’s American gallery.
Constructed in the 1920s, the Museum’s glass casket (2001.4.234) weighs between 400 and 500 pounds. The type of pressing machine that was used to make it weighed approximately 31,000 lbs. The American Glass Casket Company claimed that their casket press, measuring 13 feet tall, 25 feet long with a width of 5 feet was the largest glass press in the world in 1921. Glass coffins, which were cushioned with yards of fabric, were not meant to display the body but rather to hygienically protect it from the elements.
Glass was being used in casket construction as early as the 1850s and patents are seen starting in 1859 for glass caskets, but DeCamp did not patent his two piece adult sized casket until 1915. In 1921, the American Glass Casket Company owned “the exclusive right to manufacture and sell the DeCamp Glass Casket in the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico and [was] the parent-producing company in the making of this glass casket under the DeCamp patents” ([Glass casket catalog] Bib # 74869, page 12) while other plants each had their own respective territories.
Patent Information on Casket Plate for DeCamp Consolidated Glass Casket Co., Factory
Of the trade catalogs in the Rakow Library’s collection, one on glass caskets is fully viewable online. The catalog for Crystal Glass Casket Company, Washington, DC describes their caskets as “hermetically sealed by applying a composition which renders the casket air-tight, water-tight, vermin-proof and absolutely sanitary, thus assuring a perfect burial receptacle” (page 7). The makers explain that the strength of glass is greater than other materials commonly used in coffin or casket production including woods and metals. The catalog contains interesting photographs documenting the production facilities and can be seen online here.
DeCamp trimming room, Cut No. 13 from Bib 52588 - DeCamp Consolidated Glass Casket Co., Muskogee, OK, USA.
After the glass bowl and lid of the casket were pressed, they had to be annealed for approximately six hours to relieve stress from the glass. Dealing with pieces of such a large size, cracks were often a problem. In the trimming room at the factory, felt or fabric was applied to the outside of the glass to prevent the metal handles from coming in direct contact with the glass surface. Silk or brocade was used to decorate the caskets as can be seen in the photos above and below. Small caskets were used as samples since they were easier to produce. It is unknown how many full size caskets were produced, but today only two 6′ 3″ caskets remain intact, both in museum collections.
Glass casket from Bib 45886 - DeCamp Consolidated Glass Casket Co., Muskogee, OK, USA.
Many questions still surround the history of glass casket production. Some accounts relate that certain factories did not produce any full size glass caskets at all, but were merely a front to attract investors. In 1923, several company representatives were indicted and charged with conspiracy in connection to the sale of company stock. Most investors saw no returns and bankruptcy came for companies rather quickly. For further information, or to view additional catalogs from other firms, including the DeCamp Consolidated Glass Casket Company, contact or visit The Rakow Research Library.
Telephone: 607.438.5300 | Email (general inquiries): rakow@cmog.org
Explore the collection online using the classic catalog or the Library’s collection browser.
Earlier this year, Tina Oldknow, the Museum’s curator of modern glass, asked me to research 16 glass panels affixed to light boxes in the Museum’s permanent collection. The panels, made in the 1950s and 1960s, came to the museum in 1993, and are called gemmaux. I had no idea what gemmaux were when I began my research, but I was excited for the challenge. I began my search by looking through the curatorial files on the objects in our collection. I also was able to find information online through the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution and through the Rakow Research Library here at the Museum.
Gemmail (plural gemmaux) is a French word that is literally translated as “enamel gem.” The term was coined by French painter Jean Crotti to describe a technique he developed for layering and adhering pieces of colored glass onto a panel in order to create compositions that are meant to be viewed in front of a light box or illuminated from behind. Gemmaux were very popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. They were made by technicians called gemmistes at a Paris studio called Les Gemmaux de France.
Nature Morte aux Fleurs (Still Life with Flowers), Roger Bezombes, France, Paris, Les Gemmaux de France studio, about 1954, H: 64.8cm, W: 50.8 cm (93.3.15, gift of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.)
Gemmistes used existing artwork by well-known artists, like Pablo Picasso and George Braque, to create re-interpretations of their work using the gemmail technique. Sometimes these artists even came to the studio to sign the gemmaux when they were finished. Young French painters also experimented with the technique.
Fifteen of the 16 gemmaux panels in the Museum’s collection were given by Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company as a gift in 1993. These 15 panels were part of a 1962 traveling exhibition called Masterpieces in Glass organized by Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company to promote their fiberglass curtains. The Rakow Research Library has two full-color 1961 advertisements for the Masterpieces in Glass exhibition that showcase the gemmaux alongside fiberglass curtains. Each panel depicted is now in the Museum’s permanent collection.
A 1961 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company advertisement depicting the gemmail panel Voiles Heureuses (Happy Sailing), Danielle Dhumez (French, b. 1910, d. unknown), France, Paris, Les Gemmaux de France studio, about 1957, H: 63.5 cm x W: 53.5 cm. Winner of the “prix du gemmail” in 1957. (93.3.12, gift of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.). (Rakow Library bibliographic record number 131015).
A 1961 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company advertisement depicting the gemmail panel, Nature Morte aux Fleurs (Still Life with Flowers), Roger Bezombes (French, 1913-1994), France, Paris, Les Gemmaux de France studio, about 1954, H: 64.75 cm x W: 50.75 cm. (93.3.15, gift of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.) (Rakow Library bibliographic record number 131016)
Since I began my research, there has been a surge of public interest in this unusual mid-20th-century technique and the information I was able to uncover on the history of gemmaux has grown larger than a blog post can contain. So I wrote an article called A Brief History of Gemmaux. It is a fascinating history! You can also view all of the Museum’s gemmaux panels by using the online collections browser.
My name is Alexandria Aldinger. I am currently a student of Liberty Jr. Sr. High school of Tioga County, Pennsylvania. As a senior at Liberty, I was given the task of creating a senior project about my future occupation; a project required for me to graduate. In addition, we must also shadow someone for 20 hours in or related to the field we are pursuing, and document our experiences.
The future occupation I have chosen is museum studies and art history (with a curatorial focus). I chose to pursue this career because I have an interest in both art and history. I love art. Learning the history behind art pieces makes it so much more interesting to me; which is why I think the field of museum studies and art history would make be a good fit for me. I was given the opportunity to be able to shadow two different employees at The Corning Museum of Glass; gallery educator Bonnie Wright, and curatorial assistant Kelley Elliott. This was very helpful for me because I was able to see two different jobs that make it possible for the Museum to operate successfully.
Part of Bonnie’s job in the Educational Department is to prepare educational material for different uses and audiences. Bonnie explained to me a bit about marketing, editing, and advertising for the Museum. I observed Bonnie while she edited a page of the Museum’s website. I also was able to attend a Hot Glass Show which helped me understand how glass is formed and fashioned. During the Hot Glass Show there was a drawing to win a vase that was made by the gaffers, and just my luck, I won it! It was very interesting to watch and I would recommend that anyone who visits the Museum should attend a show.
Bonnie also organizes some of the educational events for the Museum. For example, she organizes an event called Glass Camp. Glass Camp is a five day summer camp for children ages 9 through 11. I was able to help Bonnie go over the schedule for Glass Camp. Some of the activities for the children include gallery hunts, themed crafts, and attending Little Gather. Little Gather is a themed performance for children ages 3 and up that explores different types of glass through storytelling, puppet shows, music, and singing. Additionally, I observed Bonnie conducting one of several 3-hour training sessions for the Museum’s Explainer program. Explainers are teens and college students who are stationed throughout the Museum during the busy summer months, sharing information about the glass collection with visitors, and conducting youth tours. Bonnie was so helpful and full of information that I now am strongly considering becoming a museum educator.
I also learned a lot while shadowing Kelley. I was able to visit the Museum’s warehouse where collection items not on display in the galleries are stored. While there, I helped Kelley and the registrars unpack a large shipment of Pyrex glass that was donated to the Museum. I also helped do some research for a public inquiry about a Pyrex glass hurricane lamp.
A table full of Pyrex glass at the warehouse waiting to be cataloged.
Shelves full of glass in The Corning Museum of Glass’ warehouse.
Also while shadowing Kelley I was able to attend a meeting with designer Jon Otis at GlassLab, a design program at The Corning Museum of Glass. On July 17 and 18, Jon Otis created some design prototypes for the Museum. During our meeting we talked about which designs were successful, and we discussed the inspirations behind the designs.
Some of Jon Otis’ design protoypes made at GlassLab.
From right to left is GlassLab designer Jon Otis, me, G. Brian Juk (gaffer), Hot Glass Show supervisor Eric Meek, and hot glass programs manager Steve Gibbs, at The Corning Museum of Glass.
I also helped Kelley with a research project on a glass vase by the famous French artist Émile Gallé (1846─1904). The vase, made sometime between 1890 and 1904, is called Vase with Tomatoes, but when looking at the vase it looks as though the tomatoes might be pumpkins because they are orange. We did research to find out if they were tomatoes or pumpkins.
Vase with Tomatoes, Émile Gallé (1846─1904), Nancy, France, about 1890─1904 (Anonymous gift, 82.3.55)
We researched the archives related to Gallé in the Museum’s Rakow Research Library. We found a photograph of a vase that looked very similar to the Vase with Tomatoes but there was no title on the photograph to indicate whether these were tomatoes or pumpkins.
So we continued our research online by comparing pictures of the leaves of tomato plants to the leaves on pumpkin plants. We decided that the leaves looked more like those found on a tomato plant. We also saw images of yellow and orange tomatoes with shapes very similar to what was on the vase. So we concluded that the piece by Gallé, Vase with Tomatoes, should keep its name based on what we found in our research.
Photograph of a vase by Émile Gallé (1846─1904) similar to the Vase with Tomatoes.
While at The Corning Museum of Glass I was also able to explore the Museum for myself. My favorite part was the Contemporary Gallery of the Museum. The word “contemporary” simply means of the present time (specifically it means made in the last 30 years). I am a huge fan of contemporary art.
Overall my experience at The Corning Museum of Glass was amazing. The staff is wonderful and without them the Museum wouldn’t be as successful as it is. It was such a pleasure visiting the Museum for 20 hours and shadowing Kelley and Bonnie. It was definitely a great experience for me and I have memories I will never forget. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and new knowledge of the field to my classmates and teachers this fall. I recommend The Corning Museum of Glass as a must visit on anyone’s vacation list.
Evening Dress with Shawl by Karen LaMonte is a favorite of Miriam Martinez, the Museum’s Membership Coordinator.
Have you ever seen something and felt like you had seen it before? That’s pretty much what happened when I walked into the Museum’s Ben W. Heineman Sr. Family Gallery of Contemporary Glass about seven years ago and saw this incredible, translucent life-sized dress.
Evening Dress with Shawl, Karen LaMonte (American, b. 1967). Czech Republic, Zelezny Brod, 2004.
The dress was softly illuminated from above. A glass shawl was draped over imaginary open hands, as if someone was caressing a treasured dress, or committing a precious moment to memory. I could even see the imprint of fingers in the shawl. It was if I was looking at the innermost details of a frozen moment in time that might have happened long ago or just a minute ago.
Fashion has always been very important to me, even when I was a little girl; more so as a teenager. This was a dress I could imagine myself wearing to a ball. I wonder how many visitors, particularly teens, must stand before this dress, made by American artist Karen LaMonte, envisioning themselves wearing it to their prom or wedding.
Fascinated by LaMonte’s work, I wanted to see more. I didn’t have to go too far. The Museum also has her Blue Dress, the size and style of a little girl’s dress.
Blue Dress, 1998
The sculpture is made of glass that gently shifts from translucent to opaque in hues of deep-blue and green/turquoise, with ruffles on the sleeves. You can almost see the little girl who loves it. I look forward to walking through the Museum with my granddaughter and standing in front of this life-sized dress. I wonder what she will be thinking.
I have a deep appreciation for artists such as LaMonte, who have devoted their careers to creating sculptures that have extraordinary visual appeal, but also dare us to imagine, think, and, yes, even dream, of what if’s.
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a special grant in the amount of $25,000 to The Corning Museum of Glass to support the position of a curatorial assistant to survey the American glass collection.
Bottle with the Seal of Richard Wistar. Wistarburgh Glassworks, about 1745-1755. (86.4.196)
With the most comprehensive collection of glass in the world, The Corning Museum of Glass is a recognized leader in the field of glass and glass studies. Of the Museum’s permanent collection of more than 45,000 objects, 18,700 form the American glass collection.
The American collection represents the history of glass production in the American colonies and the United States from the 18th century to present. The objects range from rare pieces hand-blown in the earliest factories, to mass-produced canning jars and bottles made in the second half of the 19th century, to art glass and cut glass pieces made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and pieces made by contemporary glass artists in 2011.
Six piece place setting, Libbey Glass Company, 1903-1904 (69.4.33)
Collection highlights include the wares of great American glass manufacturers, such as the New England Glass Company of East Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Libbey Glass Company in Toledo, Ohio.
The curatorial assistant will work with the Curatorial Department and the Registrar’s Department in researching and cataloguing the American glass collection, and will assist the curator of American glass in the preparation of a collection survey of American glass prior to 1900.
This research will be added to the American glass collection database and will be immediately available world-wide online at cmog.org, in an updated collections browser launched in early 2012. Online collections records contain in-depth information including provenance, Art & Architecture Thesaurus standard terms, and related objects, as well as related multimedia, publications and exhibition information.
Desk set, Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, ca. 1830 (68.4.532)
The Museum is seeking applicants with training in American decorative arts for this temporary, one-year position. For details, visit http://www.cmog.org/employment.
The Museum received the grant through the Luce Foundation’s American Art program. The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to bring important ideas to the center of American life, strengthen international understanding, and foster innovation and leadership in academic, policy, religious and art communities.
We’ve launched a redesigned website at www.cmog.org. The site offers new content, increased access to the Museum’s collection and new user-friendly features. The front page serves as a starting point to explore 35 centuries of glass art: the site now features thousands of videos, articles, images and resources on glass and glassmaking.
“The Corning Museum of Glass is the authority on glass, and we wanted to make as many of our resources available online as we could,” says Karol Wight, executive director. “We’ve made new digitized materials from our Library available, are sharing every single video we’ve ever produced and are publishing articles that address glass from many angles. Visitors to our site can easily access information about glass at any level that interests them.”
The redesigned site provides a new integrated search function that allows visitors to access more than 200,000 records from both the Museum’s comprehensive collection of art and historical glass and the Rakow Research Library’s collection of archival and reference materials on the history of glass and glassmaking.
More than 30 years of images from the Museum’s prestigious annual journal, New Glass Review, are now available to view online for the first time. An All About Glass section features more than 350 videos, 100 articles, and 225 recently digitized books from the Rakow Research Library, as well as glass term definitions and podcasts.
Some of the highlights you’ll want to check out:
An enhanced way to browse the collection. Search both the glass collection and the collection of the Rakow Research Library at the same time. Search by object, artist/maker, color, and more. In each record you’ll find information about related multimedia, publications and exhibitions.
A new collection set feature. Save glass collections objects, articles, events, and media across the site into your own collection set. This is an excellent tool for research and sharing. Create public sets to share, or keep them private in your own account.
An All About Glass section that includes more than 350 videos, 100 articles, and 225 digitized books from the Rakow Research Library, as well as glass term definitions and podcasts.
More than 30 years of images from our annual journal, New Glass Review. Filter by artist, juror’s picks, technique, and more.
An improved calendar that helps you plan your visit. See the demonstration schedule for the day you’re visiting, as well as any exhibitions on view and special events taking place. Visit our mobile site to plan your visit on the go.
Online registration for glassmaking classes at The Studio. Sign up and pay online in just a few convenient steps. It’s easy to find one that fits your needs: you can sort by level of experience, teacher, technique, and length of class.
The Museum partnered with IMA Lab, the media and technology group at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the website redesign project. IMALab designed and developed the site, working on new solutions to bring the Museum’s various collections to the web.
We hope you’ll explore and let us know what you think. Simply use the feedback button you’ll find in the bottom right-hand corner on the website.
It’s not often our curators and preparators get to “play” with our objects, but the team who recently moved Gianni Toso’s Chess Set, a whimsical work that is a favorite with our visitors, got to learn a little bit about chess.
The chess pieces are made in the form of Jewish and Roman Catholic religious figures. A Jewish rabbi and a Roman Catholic bishop (kings) join a group of holy men and women holding Judeo-Christian symbols of faith, including crosses, Torahs, menorahs, and single candles. Each chess piece has the appropriate costume, hairstyle, and accessory of its rank. Learn more about this object.
The artist does not dictate where the pieces should be placed on the chess board, so the team chose to set it up to show the Fool’s Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate. This is the quickest possible checkmate in chess. See how it works.
The Museum has recently acquired an extraordinary work: a large vase, titled Les Hommes Noirs (The Dark Men), designed by Emile Gallé (French, 1846‒1904) and his childhood friend, the painter and sculptor Victor Prouvé (French, 1858‒1943).
Detail of Les Hommes noirs, now on view at the Museum.
Emile Gallé was born and raised in the town of Nancy, in eastern France. After apprenticing at the glass and ceramics factory owned by his father, Charles Gallé, the young Gallé eventually took over the business, expanding it into a flourishing art industry by the end of the 19th century.
Les Hommes Noirs was made by Gallé as a call for justice, for civil rights, and for the defense of the unjustly accused. Its subject refers to the intense political, judicial, and social scandal that surrounded a French Jewish military officer named Alfred Dreyfus (1859‒1935). The Dreyfus Affair (1894‒1906) involved a false accusation of treason and a subsequent cover-up that divided French society for over a decade. Gallé, who was deeply disturbed by the case, commissioned Prouvé to design a special vase for Gallé’s display at the 1900 world’s fair in Paris. Gallé intended for the vase to expose all “fanaticism, hatred, lies, prejudice, cowardice, selfishness, and hypocrisy.”
"Hommes noirs d’où sortez-vous?"
The triple-overlay, acid-etched vase is signed by both artists and dated 1900. It is inscribed “Hommes noirs d’où sortez-vous? Nous sortons de dessous terre.” (Dark men, from where do you come? We come from beneath the earth.) Prouvé’s design shows monstrous creatures rising from the darkness of the depths of the earth or from Hell, noxious dark men who illustrate the evils of anti-Semitism and calumny. One is a crone-faced, bat-winged creature with a tail made of snakes. Another has huge deformed claws for hands. A wavy-haired male figure, representing “Truth,” looks out with a hurt expression.
The play of darkness and light in glass was a frequent metaphor used by Gallé to symbolize the battle between good and evil. The three large lilies, painted with silver stain, represent Dreyfus’s innocence.
Les Hommes Noirs is an extremely rare work in early 20th-century glass, and in decorative arts in general, in that it goes beyond the concept of the vase as a decorative vessel. As is characteristic of Gallé’s greatest works, the glass vase has become a work of art, an object that stimulates thought and discussion, and inspires noble ideas.
The most successful works of art are those that resonate across time and place. Les Hommes Noirs is one of the rare art works in glass to accomplish just that. At over a century old, its theme—protesting false accusation, ethnic profiling, and political cover-ups—is still relevant and powerful.
The vase was unveiled on October 20, during the Annual Seminar on Glass. It will be on display in the Modern Gallery.
Les Hommes noirs (The Dark Men). Emile Galle (French, 1846‒1904) and Victor Prouve (French, 1858‒1943). France, 1900. Blown and cased glass, cut, acid-etched, engraved, polished, applied silver stain. H: 38.1 cm, Diam (max): 32.1 cm. Collection of The Corning Museum of Glass (2011.3.1)
Watch the video on Les Hommes Noirs and the Dreyfus Affair:
Purchased in part with funds from the Houghton Endowment Fund, James B. Flaws and Marcia D. Weber, Daniel Greenberg, Susan Steinhauser, and The Greenberg Foundation in honor of Natalie G. and Ben W. Heineman Sr., James R. and Maisie Houghton, Ben W. Heineman Sr. Family, E. Marie McKee and Robert Cole Jr., Elizabeth S. and Carl H. Pforzheimer III, and Wendell P. Weeks and Kim Frock Weeks
