}ULASERJET€)}.mt 10 .hm 3 .pn 1 .h1Grayson Enterprises Ltd. First NA Serial Rights .h2Page #. 1,542 words .h3August 8, 1989 Copyright 1989 .fo   CRACKLE GLASS  Written and Photographed by June Grayson     All crackle glass is beautiful, but some crackle glass is  more beautiful than others. The exact origin of crackle glass -   also called craquelle, frosted, overshot, snakeskin, and ice   glass - is unknown.  The Venetian glassmakers of the sixteenth century claim   credit for the technique. They produced ice glass by plunging   the red-hot glass into cold water and then reheating and   reblowing it. The glass appeared to be covered with multiple   fractures but the interior surfaces remained smooth to the touch.   The technique was soon copied by neighboring Bohemian glass   makers and spread throughout Europe.   π03  Several examples of frosted glassware from the seventeenth   and eighteenth century have been found and attributed to other   European factories.Š Mr. Martin Bach of the Durand glass factory in the United   States claimed, however, that the Egyptian and Moorish art   nouveau glassware that he manufactured in 1928 were reproductions   of crackle glass from those ancient civilizations.  Evidently, we can never know who first made crackle glass.We   do know, however, there was an explosion of interest in crackle   glass during the nineteenth century. European glass manufactur  ers exhibited many kinds and colors of craquelle glass at the   Paris Exposition of 1878.  Several patents were issued both in England and the United   States for variations on the Venetian and Bohemian methods of   manufacture. One novel technique patented in England in 1883   called for the glassware to be given a frosted finish with acids   and then covered with cobbler's glue. Upon drying under low   heat, the glue would flake off together with pieces of the glass,   producing the desired effect of ice or windowpane frosting. The Boston & Sandwich Glass Works on Cape Cod and the   Reading Artistic Glass Works in Reading, Pennsylvania, produced   the "overshot" glassware that became popular in the last   quarter of the nineteenth century.  π03  They made overshot by rolling the heated glass gather in   piles of glass that had been pounded into almost microscopic   fragments. The glass shards adhered to the hot glass that was   then reheated slightly and blown into the desired shape. If   you run your finger over the outside surface of overshot glass   you can feel the glass shards better than you can see them. You  Šcan even cut yourself on the rough edges of the glass.  Victorian glass manufacturers produced molded pattern glass   that simulated the ice glass effect. William O. Davis,   associated with the Portland Glass Co. of Portland, Maine,   secured patent No. 3494 in 1869 for his invention, the Tree of   Life design. Other glass companies were quick to produce   variations of this pattern. For more information on the history of crackle glass, you   may wish to read about the Tree of Life pattern in the   December/January 1989 issue of Glass Collector's Digest, and   refer to the books, Nineteenth Century Glass and American Art   Nouveau Glass, by Albert Christian Revi. Fortunately, modern glass makers are still manufacturing   crackle glass, making it accessible and affordable to anyone who   wants to enjoy owning and using it at home today. Richard Blenko of Blenko Glass says that Blenko started to   make crackle glass in 1940. They offered the first designs with   a crackle finish in their 1946 catalog. Their glass blowers  π03   achieve this decorative effect by the old technique of subjecting   the hot glass to sudden cold and then reheating it to its   smoother, more stable surface finish. You can see many color   pictures and reproductions of Blenko crackle glass advertisements   in the book, BLENKO GLASS 1930-1953.  Two crackle glass collectors were kind enough to let me   photograph their collections for this article. Kathie Ramey,   antique dealer and appraiser of Ramey's Old Barn, Aurora,   Illinois, has five pieces of overshot glass in her personal   collection of Victorian art glass. Novice glass collector that I Š am, I had never heard of overshot glass before, let alone seen or   handled it. I could not have had a better teacher.  "When I started collecting glassware in 1951, we did not   have all the reference books that are available today,"   explained Kathie. "But we did have our mentors - other antique   dealers who were generous with their knowledge and time. One of   my mentors taught me that it is not enough to look, but you must   always feel, so that you become acquainted with all aspects of   glassware. The same tutors from whom I bought this glassware   told me that Sandwich crackle glass is called "snakeskin" instead   of overshot. They also said that you could tell the difference   between Sandwich overshot glass and European overshot glass   because only the top edge of Sandwich glass was trimmed with  gold. In European overshot glassware, the gold decoration was  π03   also carried down the side of the glass."  Kathie's pieces of crackle glass have never been used and so   the glass shards are just as crisp and sharp as when they were   first manufactured - the perfect pieces to feel the way Sandwich   crackle glass is supposed to be. Aggie Theis is the owner of THE CAROUSEL, one of the shops   in the Antique Two Mall of St. Charles, Illinois. She has a   crackle glass collection of over 400 pieces. She bought her   first crackle glass thirty years ago - a crystal lemonade set of   pitcher and glasses - and since then has not been able to resist   any crackle glass. Relatives and friends always know what to   give her - another piece of crackle glass - and she loves it all.   She uses her crackle glass for family holiday meals. She will  Ševen deliver flowers to sick friends in her prettiest crackle   glass vases, just asking that they return the vases when the   flowers fade.  "The good thing about crackle glass is that you can always   find some to buy," says Aggie. "The bad thing is that it is   almost impossible to tell the age or origin of most of the pieces   you find.  "Older pieces will show more wear marks on the bottom of the   glass. The shapes may be more imperfect in the older pieces.  They may lean to the side, or you can feel bumps or variations   in the glass that you cannot see. The cheaper the crackle glass  π0-   the fewer "cracks" it has in it. You may not want to buy any   piece of crackle glass that has only a few cracks on a small part   of the total area," advises Aggie.  "The best way to tell if something is old is if you   can buy it from its original owner," continues Aggie. "I have   some crackle glass that I bought from a 90-year-old lady who said   she had bought the glass when she set up housekeeping at the age of twenty.  "You may be able to buy pieces that still have their factory   labels so that you can look them up in the company catalogs,"   continues Aggie. "Some of my labels say Blenko or Rainbow Glass.   We know that Blenko is still in business but I have not been able   to find out anything about Rainbow Glass. I even called West   Virginia once and the telephone operator said that there was no   such company in existence, but she connected me with another   glass company. That company said that the Rainbow factory had   burned down in the 1960s. However, another source said that was Š not true," Aggie says, "so I still have not been able to trace my   Rainbow glass."  To show that we still have mentors today, I must tell you   how helpful Kathie has been to me and Aggie. Our experience may   also be instructive for you on your treasure hunts for more   crackle glass for your collection.   π0-  I knew that Aggie wanted some overshot glass to add to her   crackle glass collection, but so far she had not come across   any for sale. A few days ago, I was thrilled to find a little   pitcher marked "overshot" for sale for only $39.00 in one of our   local antique malls. Arrogant with my new knowledge, I asked to   examine it - but I could feel no rough glass shards. Humph,   mismarked, I thought. Fortunately, I was not so   arrogant that I wanted to pass up this piece for Aggie if  it was overshot. I telephoned Kathie for advice. She   immediately got someone to watch her own antique store while she   drove from Aurora to St. Charles to examine the pitcher for us.  Her conclusion? It was overshot and it was a good  buy. Evidently it had been well-used in the past for the glass   shards were worn down, unlike her overshot pitchers. However,   her keen eyes perceived that there was a lot of dust and dirt in   among the shards, probably just from the passage of time and   maybe also from lint from dishtowels used for innumerable   dryings.  She advised Aggie to buy the pitcher, take it home, and soak   it overnight in water with a little ammonia in it. Eureka! Much  Šof the dirt and lint dissolved away, the shards are now sharper,   the crystal brilliant, and Aggie has a beautiful example of   overshot or snakeskin crackle glass to round out her collection.   Π„   ##### π0-   „„   I welcome any additions or corrections to this article,   and I promise to share any letters with Kathie and Aggie. Espe  cially welcome would be any information about the Rainbow Glass   Company.  „„   „  Write June Grayson, Grayson Enterprises Ltd., POB 167,   St. Charles, Illinois 60174.