A. Stone & Co, Philada. Cunninghams & Co.

A. Stone & Co.

Philada.

MANUFACTURED BY CUNNINGHAMS & CO PITTSBURGH PA

Amasa Stone & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cunninghams & Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Olive Green Quart Wax Sealer Jar

Provenance: Jerry McCann Collection

Our museum example represents an A. Stone & Co. groove ring wax sealer jar in a beautiful olive green glass color that is considered unique. The quart jar has a high kick-up and a bare iron pontil scar. These rare jars are usually found in aqua quarts and half-gallons.

Our example has embossed typography in five (5) straight horizontal lines. The first line reads ‘A. STONE & Co.’ The last “o” is smaller, raised, underlined, and has two dots beneath. The second line reads ‘PHILADa.’ The last “a” is smaller with two dots beneath. The third line reads ‘MANUFACTURED BY’. All three lines are in a serif typestyle. The fourth line is embossed ‘CUNNINGHAMS & Co.’ The last line is embossed ‘PITTSBURGH PA’. The last two lines are in a sans-serif typestyle. All copy is centered and appears to be two different sizes of typography.

A. Stone & Co.

A. Stone & Co. consisted of Amasa Stone and George S. Brown. They were listed as glassware dealers in Philadelphia City Directories from 1857 through 1864. During this period, most examples were blown in molds that produced jars finished as groove ring wax sealers. The earliest examples have bare iron pontils with red and black markings on the base. Some examples, presumably made later, have smooth bases.

Many of the jars are a pale aquamarine typical of glass produced in South Jersey, just east of Philadelphia across the Delaware River. The jars that were made in Pittsburgh, like our example, are usually found in bold blue-green aqua shades.

See our museum example of an aqua A. Stone & Co. small-mouth quart jar.

See our museum example of a base embossed Cunningham & Co. Pittsburgh jar.

Cunningham & Co.

In 1845, Wilson Cunningham and George Jackson began a window-glass and bottle factory on Water Street in Pittsburgh. By 1849, brothers Wilson and Robert Cunningham, along with George Duncan formed W. Cunningham & Co. and established the Pittsburgh City Glass Works. Apparently, Jackson withdrew from the company about this time. The company may have experienced financial difficulties due to an economic depression during this period.

Dominick Ihmsen joined the firm in 1857 and the partners renamed the company Cunninghams & Ihmsen. This new company continued to advertise A. Stone jars as late as 1869, while the jars were being offered as late as 1873 in wholesale druggist catalogs.

Primary Image: A. Stone & Co. Philada. jar imaged on location by Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum Midwest Studio

Support Image: Auction Lot 3586: A Stone Made By Cunningham & Co, Iron pontil, Quart, Deep blue-aqua, Grooved ring wax sealer mouth, the 1850s – Greg Spurgeon, North American Glass.

Support Image: Aqua, ‘A. Stone & Co. Philada. Manufactured By Cunninghams & Co. Pittsburgh, Pa., Half Gallon, Iron Pontiled, Heavy applied grooved ring wax sealer mouth finish, scarce early jar and a great-looking example – Greg Spurgeon, North American Glass

Support: Research assistance by Jerry McCann. Reference to Fruit Jar Annual 2020, The Guide to Collecting Fruit Jars by Jerome J. McCann

Support: Reference to Red Book #11, the Collector’s Guide to Old Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr.

Support: Reference to The Dating Game by Bill Lockhart, David Whitten by Bill Lindsey. Jay Hawkins and Carol Serr

Support: Reference to Cunningham Family Glass Holdings

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