Home >> Collecting >> Antiques

Glassware Crystal Pattern Styles

Cut glass was first produced in America at the American Flint Glass Manufactory by Henry William Stiegel, at Manheim Pennsylvania in 1771. Companies began creating and producing patterns shortly thereafter. The patterns were used for all sorts of tableware, including items rarely seen today like celery boats, olive dishes, and spoon holders, whose care would keep a household staff busy. Some of the patterns can still be found in modern cut crystal, and some have become rare.

Motifs
- During the heyday of the brilliant cut glass era, which began in the early 1880s, the most popular motifs were hobnails, stars, and straight and broken prisms. Hobnails were named because they reminded people of the hobnails used in the soles of work boots. Other motifs were chair bottoms or canes, full flute, vesica borders, English strawberry-diamond borders, notched prisms, single stars, modified hobstars, modified pinwheels or buzzes, and half flute.
Russian
- The Russian pattern is a refinement of the traditional star and hobnail cut. The pattern was designed in 1863 by Philip McDonald, a cutter with the Thomas G. Hawkes company in Corning, New York. Thomas G. Hawkes was a sixth-generation glass manufacturer and cutter who adapted old Irish motifs to the New World. Many pieces of glasswares are cut in the Russian pattern, including baskets, bonbon bowls, rose bowls, sauce dishes, celery dishes, decanters, ice cream platters, pin trays, powder boxes, punch bowls and their cups.
Grecian and Old-Fashioned Hobnail
- The Grecian pattern is another elaborate T.G. Hawkes pattern which is a field of star and hobnail with petal-shaped features of clear class that radiate out from a 10-point star in the center. It's a fairly rare pattern and was used for bonbon and olive dishes, celery boats, goblets with cut or plain stems, plates and platters. Old-fashioned Hobnail is made of a six-sided hobnail motif that was used mostly after 1888. The pattern was cut into glass baskets, claret jugs, rose and punch bowls, smelling salt bottles, spoon holders, straight or curved water pitchers and wine or other cordial glasses.
Devonshire
- Devonshire is a particularly pretty pattern which uses the motifs of star and hobnail with a curved split. The Devonshire pattern used the strawberry-diamond motif, a single star, fan and pyramid-diamond. It was not only ornate, but expensive. The pattern was cut into tumblers, vases, butter patties, which are quite rare finds, and sauce dishes.
Harvard
- The Harvard pattern is a series of squares covering the entire surface of a dish or plate. The squares have raised centers resembling hobnails. The Harvard pattern looks somewhat like the Russian pattern. It was cut into cream boats, cruets, pitchers, cologne bottles and decanters.

Antiques