Plate
Manufacturer
Molineaux & Webb
(Manchester, England)
CultureEnglish
DateMay 26, 1870
MediumPressed glass
DimensionsOverall: 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)
InscribedMarked in relief on top: a crest-like mark with "6/26/C/E" each in a separate section of the crest, clockwise, from the middle left. See card or object. Also, paper label: May 1870-Williamson L 3" with the L a pound mark with a = through it.
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number83.612
Not on view
DescriptionPlate of pressed colorless glass. Narrow paneled scalloped rim. Then, a band of flat diamonds and center star design. Ground and polished around that.Label TextGLASS FOR THE MASSES A great revolution in glassmaking technology occurred in the mid-nineteenth century: the machine press. First developed in America in the late 1820s, it was quickly adopted by the British glass industry. Machine presses required less-skilled laborers and allowed for greater productivity in the factory. Thus, glassware became less expensive for the growing consumer market. Even a middle-class home in the mid-nineteenth century could afford a complete table setting of pressed glass in a matching pattern. Pressed glass often imitated more expensive cut glass, but increasingly featured more fashionable styles or cutting-edge colors for a highly decorative effect. Molineaux & Webb Manchester, England Plate, ca. 1870-90 Pattern registered 26 May 1870 Pressed glass Museum purchase 83.612 Exhibition History"Cheers to Queen Victoria: British Glass from the Chrysler Collection," Waitzer Community Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, September 22, 2010 - March 20, 2011.
