Boston and Sandwich Glass Company

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Illustration of the manufactory in Sandwich from the American Magazine, 1835 1835 SandwichGlass AmericanMagazine v1 Boston.png
Illustration of the manufactory in Sandwich from the American Magazine , 1835
Sandwich glass 2551105747 Sandwich glass.jpg
Sandwich glass

The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company was an American glass-making company in Sandwich, Massachusetts, from 1826 to 1888.

History

Deming Jarves established the Sandwich Glass Manufactory in Sandwich in 1825, producing flint glass. [1] [2] This was taken over the following year by the newly incorporated Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, which Jarves also headed. [3] It started with 60 employees and an eight-pot furnace, each pot capable of holding 800 pounds (360 kg). [3] In his 1854 report to the British House of Commons, George Wallis stated the company employed 500 workers and four furnaces of ten pots each, turning out 60 tons of cut and pressed glass per week. [4] Another source gives the same figures, except for the output, which was specified as 50 tons a week. [3]

The factory was one of the earliest to produce pressed glass. [5] In 1827, the pressing mold machine was invented by a man named Robinson who worked at the New England Glass Company—where Jarves had previously been employed as an agent—but the production of pressed glass was perfected by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company. [3] The company also experimented with colored glass in the 1830s. [6] After the hiring of Nicholas Lutz in 1869, [7] art glass production commenced. [6] Mary Gregory was another important artist in glass; she worked for the company from 1880 to 1884, painting lamps and plaques of landscape scenes. [8]

Celery vase by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Celery vase MET DT189.jpg
Celery vase by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jarves led the company to prosperity until 1858, when after a dispute with the board of directors he and his son John left to establish the Cape Code Glass Works, also in Springfield. [6] [9] His successors were brothers George and Sewall A. Fessenden, the former as superintendent, the latter as the firm's Boston agent. [6] When George Fessenden retired in 1882, Henry Francis Spurr, the head salesman, took his place. [6]

When a newly formed glassmakers' labor union sought a greater share of the profits, [1] [10] the management responded by locking out the workers on January 2, 1888. [1] This and competition from cheaper glass produced in the Midwest brought about the company's demise. [6]

The Sandwich Glass Museum has many of the company's pieces. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Shuman III, John A. (2003). Art Glass Identification & Price Guide. Krause Publications. ISBN   0-87349-676-0 . Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Sandwich Glass Museum". The Providence Independent. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wheeler, Lenore. Sandwich Glass: A Technical Book for Collectors . Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  4. ↑ Special Report of Mr. George Wallis. Harrison and Son. 1854. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  5. ↑ Smith, Leonard H. Jr., ed. (2004). "Glass-Making in Sandwich". Cape Cod Library of Local History and Genealogy: a facsimile edition of 108 pamphlets published in the early 20th century. Baltimore, Maryland: Reprinted for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co. ISBN   0-8063-1324-2.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1986. pp. 404–405. ISBN   0-87099-467-0 . Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  7. ↑ Lee, Ruth Webb (August 1941). "Flashback: Paperweights by Nicholas Lutz". American Collector. Article reprinted at Collectors Weekly, retrieved May 10, 2013.
  8. ↑ Barlow, Raymond; Kaiser, Joan (1983). The Glass Industry in Sandwich. Windham, New Hampshire: Barlow-Kaiser Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 277–289. ISBN   0-9610166-0-4.
  9. ↑ "History". www.sandwichglassmuseum.org. Sandwich Glass Museum. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  10. ↑ Chipman, Frank W. (1932). The Romance of Old Sandwich Glass. Sandwich Publishing Company Inc.
  11. ↑ "Early American Pressed Glass". Sandwich Glass Museum & Historical Society. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
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