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Cut Glass And Price Guide Hobby Paperback Book John F. Hotchkiss 1973
WHAT IS CUT GLASS?
Any piece of glass which has been decorated or shaped by a rotating abrasive wheel is truly a piece of cut glass.
This book covers a narrow band of time in the hundreds and thousands of years that glass has been decorated by a moving wheel.
Most of the cut glass discussed in this book was probably made between the years 1880 and 1914.
This has come to be known as the Brilliant Period.
During this period of time the method of cutting glass changed very little except for improved speeds and increased power with the introduction of electricity.
The actual cutting was done by relatively slow speed abrasive wheels measuring from a few inches to several feet in diameter.
These were lubricated with a trickle of water.
The work to be cut was pushed down from above onto the wheel.
It was done entirely by hand with no fixtures or guides to aid the cutter.
The finest cut glass required four dis- tinct steps.
The pattern to be cut was first laid out on the smooth glass blank with a marking crayon or brush.
The second operation was known as roughing, at which time the pattern was cut into the glass with a coarse abrasive wheel.
This operation was followed by smoothing, which again involved tracing over the entire pattern with a finer abrasive wheel.
In each of these steps the pattern had a dull, gray appearance.
The final hand operation was known as polishing. In this case a wooden or felt wheel with pumice or putty powder was used to give the design the same brilliant surface as the rest of the crystal.
This final operation was also referred to as "coloring."
Obviously the hand labor was enormous.
As the price of labor increased acid polishing and pressed blanks were introduced in the later part of the Brilliant Period to offset higher wages.
By pressing the pattern into the molten glass, the step of marking was eliminated, and the time to rough out and smooth the pattern were greatly reduced.
Finally, by dipping the piece in acid, a simulated hand polished effect was achieved.
Glass produced in this manner often carried a simple design, sometimes floral rather than geometric.
Again this shortened the time and reduced the cost.
This type of glass is usually listed and identified later as "F" which stands for "fair" quality.
Besides the method of decoration, the cut glass priced in this book has to meet one other important qualification.
It has to be blown by hand of the finest lead crystal which was responsible for its brilliance and its characteristic heaviness compared with other types of glass.
These blanks were always thick in order to permit the deep cutting.
The thickness varies from perhaps a quarter of an inch up to a half inch for the larger pieces which are deeply incised so that the pattern will be proportional to the size of the object.
Book is in good condition. General shelf and corner wear. A few white marks on the front and back cover. Some fraying along the cover the edges. Some staining on the front and back cover. A solid reading copy. Please see photos for details, and let me know if you have any questions.
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