Zanesville Chestnut (24 swirled ribs to the right)
Zanesville Pattern Molded Bottle
(24 swirled ribs to the right)
Early American Blown Glass
Attributed to a Zanesville Glass Works, Zanesville, Ohio
Pale Olive Yellow
Provenance: John Fifer Collection, ex Darl Fifer Collection
On display in our Early American Blown Glass Gallery is this exquisite pale olive-yellow pattern-molded flask that is 7-½” tall and attributed to one of the many fine glasshouses that operated in Zanesville, Ohio. The flask is a globular form with a tall tapered neck, an outward rolled mouth, and has a pontil scar. There are 24 swirled ribs to the right. It was made circa 1815 to 1830.
Ohio and Midwestern glass fall in a category of its own, distinctly American and expressive of the finest craftsmanship in the development of glassmaking in America, untainted by the later commercial mechanization of the industry. Within our Free-Blown & Pattern-Molded Gallery, we have examples representing the great Ohio glasshouses located in Kent, Mantua, Ravenna, and Zanesville.
See the museum example of a Free-Blown Zaneville Bowl attributed to G. W. Kearns & Co.
See the museum example of an aqua 19-rib Zanesville Pattern Molded Bowl attributed to White Glass Works.
See the museum example of Zanesville Pattern Molded Globular Bottle.
See the museum example of a Zanesville Pattern-Molded Tumbler.
See the museum example of a Zanesville Free-Blown Pan.
In the early nineteenth century, Zanesville was a small town that was incorporated in 1814. White Glass Works was the first truly organized glassworks that was established one year later. There were certainly other earlier glassmakers in Ohio, but few if any of these ever reached the incorporation stage. Much of the early glass industry were sole proprietorships, and the nature of the early Ohio Industry was such that almost all of the really early glassmakers left few records.
Zanesville was surrounded by thick forests and had all the necessary ingredients for making glass such as sand, potash, and lime which could be obtained nearby. The glassmakers also had access to coal and wood to fuel the glass furnaces. Making glassware helped ensure meeting the demands of a growing population as well as expanding the economic base.
During these years and up through the 1870s or so, various Zanesville glasshouses and their talented glassmaker’s made window glass, flasks and decanters, sugar bowls and covers; pitchers, large and small; pans and shallow bowls varying in-depth and diameter; salts, flips, and tumblers, vases and other articles. The glass pieces patterned in these bottle molds are among the finest examples we have in Early American blown glass.
Zanesville glass colors are fine and varied. The ambers, ranging from a dark brownish tone to golden yellow, are superb; the greens vary from brilliant aquamarine to deep yellowish or olive tone; occasionally a delicate cornflower, blue or deep sapphire, is encountered; and rarely a brilliant, vibrant amethyst. Similar pieces, free-blown and without a pattern, are also encountered in the same range of glowing brilliant colors.
Primary Image: Zanesville Pattern Molded (pale yellow-olive) imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.
Support Second Image: Zanesville Pattern Molded Globular Bottle (yellow w/olive tone) imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.
Support Image: Auction Lot 14: Pattern Molded Bottle, 24 ribs swirled to the left, probably a Zanesville glasshouse, Zanesville, Ohio, 1815-1830. Globular, brilliant lime green with a yellow tone, outward rolled mouth – pontil scar, ht. 7 3/4 inches; (light exterior high point wear, 3/16 inch chip from edge of rolled mouth). Similar in form to MW plate 96, #2 Pronounced rib pattern and graceful form. Rare color. Anthony Picadio collection. – Norman Heckler Jr. & Sr., Norman C. Heckler & Company
Support Image: Auction Lot 52: Pattern Molded Globular Bottle, 24 ribs swirled to the left, a Zanesville glasshouse, Zanesville, Ohio, 1820-1840. Bulbous form, bright yellowish amber, outward rolled mouth – pontil scar, ht. 7 5/8 inches, greatest dia. 5 1/2 inches; (light patchy interior haze). Similar in form and construction to MW color plate V, #1, A great example with a bright color and well-defined ribs. Fine condition. Robert and Janice Weekes collection. – Norman Heckler Jr. & Sr., Norman C. Heckler & Company
Support Image: Auction Lot 147: Pattern Molded Globular Bottle, 24 ribs swirled to the left, a Zanesville glass house, Zanesville, Ohio, 1820-1840. Globular form, brilliant yellow with an olive tone, outward rolled mouth – pontil scar, ht. 7 1/2 inches. Beautiful color, fine condition. – Norman Heckler Jr. & Sr., Norman C. Heckler & Company
Support Image: Auction Lot 221: Pattern Molded Globular Bottle, 24 ribs swirled to the right, a Zanesville glasshouse, Zanesville, Ohio, 1820-1840. Bulbous form, medium to deep amber, outward folded mouth – pontil scar, ht. 7 1/4 inches, greatest dia. 5 1/8 inches; (light scattered exterior wear marks). Similar in form and construction to MW color plate V, #1 A classic Zanesville form with some attractive surface swirls. Fine condition. – Norman Heckler Jr. & Sr., Norman C. Heckler & Company
Support: Reference to Zanesville Glass: A History of the Companies Which Have Manufactured and the People Who Have Contributed to Its Artistry, Elegance, and Endurance for Nearly Two Hundred Years, Paperback, Unabridged, January 1, 2011, by J. William Barrett II
Support: Reference to The Kearns Glass Companies of Zanesville by Bill Lockhart, Pete Schulz, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr with contributions by Bill Barrett and David Whitten
Support: Reference to The Robinsons of Zanesville 1893-1900 by Marg Iwen, Bottles and Extras, 2004
Support: Reference to Ohio Glass 1815-1953, The Toledo Museum of Art, October 1953
Support: Reference to American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry by Helen McKearin and Kenneth M. Wilson, Crown Publishers Inc., New York, 1978.
Support: Reference to Zanesville, Ohio and the Glass Industry: An Enduring Romance, Privately printed, Zanesville, Ohio., 1997, J. William Barrett II.
Support: Reference to Zanesville, Ohio, and the Evolution of its Glass Industry, Bottles and Extras, July 1998, J. William Barrett II.
