Sandwich Glass
This is a unique American style of glassware with a sparkle and great designs. Your ancestors may have had at least one piece and maybe more.
The unique name came from the town of Sandwich in Massachusetts. A former worker with the New England Glass Co., Deming Jarves, born in 1790, started his own glassworks in Sandwich, MA in 1825. His new company was the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, having the manufacturing done in the town of Sandwich and the company headquarters in Boston, with easy transportation of goods by ships or roads.
Jarves specialized in molded glass, cut-to-clear and hand-blown glass. He used leaded glass with a high refractive index making it clear and very sparkly. The molded glass form did become very popular and could be made quicker than using glassblowing methods. Many of his craftsmen came from England and Ireland.
In the 1830s the company produced a pressed glass with circular patterns in nodules on the underside. People loved these patterns which looked like lace designs, so creating a nickname of ‘lacy glass’.
There were problems in the company and Jarvis left over a dispute in 1858 and founded the Cape Cod Glass Works. Jarves died in 1869. The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, run by the Board of Directors, still continued in business until 1888. They had made all types of glass pieces; candle holders, perfume bottles, sugar bowls, lamps, dishes, bowls, vases, etc. Other companies in the early 20th century produced similar Sandwich glass.
Photo: Sandwich glass plate in the ‘lacy’ design.
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