Identify · Glass

Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG): How to Identify Old Pressed Glass

Pressed glass was one of America's great nineteenth-century industries. Glass pressed into iron molds made matching tableware affordable for ordinary households, and goblets, spooners, celery vases, compotes and cake stands poured out of factories in New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

Collectors call much of this Early American Pattern Glass, or EAPG. It is a field full of beautiful pieces and full of reproductions. This guide explains how pressed glass was made, how to read the glass itself, and the checks that help separate period pieces from later copies.

What counts as EAPG

Mechanical glass pressing developed in America in the 1820s. Early pressed pieces include the elaborate "lacy" glass of the 1820s to 1840s, with stippled backgrounds designed to hide imperfections from the pressing process. Over the following decades factories produced tableware in matching patterns, sold in sets that might include goblets, tumblers, creamers, sugar bowls, butter dishes, spooners and compotes.

Collectors use "Early American Pattern Glass" broadly for American pressed tableware made in patterns from roughly the mid-nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Definitions vary among collectors, so you will see some disagreement about where EAPG ends and later pressed glass begins.

Flint vs non-flint glass

Much early American pressed glass was made from lead glass, which collectors call flint glass. In the 1860s, glassmakers developed a soda-lime formula that was cheaper and well suited to pressing, and production largely shifted to it. Collectors still use the terms flint and non-flint to describe this split.

The ring test is unreliable on its own. Shape, thickness and cracks all affect sound, and some modern glass rings beautifully. Never flick a piece without the owner's permission, and do it gently with a fingernail.

Reading the glass itself

Mold seams

Pressed glass has mold seams where mold parts met. On period pieces seams are usually present but may be softened by fire polishing. Check where seams run through the pattern; on reproductions made from new molds, details around seams can be blurred or misaligned compared with documented originals.

Wear

Turn every piece over. A century of use leaves fine, random scratches on the base and foot rim, and sometimes on the lip. Wear should be concentrated where the piece touched tables and shelves. Uniform scuffing over the whole base, or wear in odd places, points to artificial aging.

Bubbles, straw marks and imperfections

Period glass often shows small seed bubbles, slight waviness or shear marks. These are not proof of age, because some reproductions include them and some period glass is very clean, but their presence or absence is one more data point.

Color and sun-colored glass

Some clear glass from the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was decolorized with manganese, which can turn light purple after long exposure to sunlight. Purple-tinted "clear" glass can therefore be old, but the color can also be induced artificially, so it is not a reliable test.

Pattern names and references

Many EAPG pattern names were not the factory's own names. Collectors and researchers named many patterns, and some patterns have more than one name. Factory catalogs, when they survive, can give the original name. This matters when searching, because sellers may use any of the names.

Standard references illustrate patterns, list known forms and note colors. Collector organizations such as the Early American Pattern Glass Society publish research, and serious collectors build a small library. A good pattern glass reference will save you from the most common mistakes.

Reproductions: the red flags

Popular EAPG patterns have been reproduced repeatedly during the twentieth century and later, especially goblets and other easily sold forms. Some reproductions were made by respected companies as honest new tableware and later lost their labels.

• A color the pattern was not made in. Check your reference. A goblet in a bright color in a pattern originally made only in clear is a classic warning sign.
• A form not made in the original set. Reproductions sometimes include forms the original factory never produced.
• Soft, blurred pattern details, especially stippling and fine lines, from molds made by copying an existing piece.
• Glass that is too light, too oily-looking or too perfect compared with known examples.
• Little or no base wear, or wear that looks sanded.
• Raised or embossed modern company marks that have been ground off. Feel the base for a smooth depression.
• Many identical examples appearing together in mint condition.

Condition and damage to check

• Run a fingertip gently around rims and pattern edges for chips, flakes and roughness.
• Look for ground or polished rims, which can hide old chips and slightly alter the shape.
• Hold the piece to light to find cracks; turn it slowly so the light catches fractures.
• Check for cloudiness ("sick glass"), which is usually inside surface damage and often cannot be fully removed.
• Check lids for fit; mismatched lids are common on butter dishes, sugar bowls and compotes.

Avoid dishwashers and harsh chemicals. Wash pressed glass by hand in lukewarm water with mild soap, one piece at a time, on a towel-lined sink to avoid knocks. Sudden temperature changes can crack old glass.

How to research pieces

1. Identify the pattern using a reference, noting every name it goes by.
2. Confirm the form and color were part of the original production.
3. Note the maker and approximate period given by the reference.
4. Search sold listings by every pattern name plus the form, and compare condition carefully.
5. For unusual colors or forms, ask a specialist or a collector society before buying.