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The Museum of
American Art Glass
by Bob
Brooke
There are plenty of
museums in the United States that have collections of American art
glass, but none tops the New Bedford of Glass in downtown New
Bedford, Massachusetts. It’s now located in the James Arnold
Mansion, known for being the home of the exclusive Wamsutta Club.
 During
the Victorian era, New Bedford became known as the “Art Glass
Headquarters of America.” Rose Amber glass, Crown Milano, Royal Flemish,
Burmese, and Lava glass are just a few of the exotic types of glass
developed in New Bedford. The Museum has many fine examples in its
7,000-piece collection, which documents over 3,000 years of glassmaking
history.
Objects in the collection cover many regions and periods, from ancient
to contemporary, with special emphasis on the city of New Bedford, well
known as the birthplace of late 19th- century art glass. Other
highlights from the collection include blown and pressed tableware, cut
glass, paperweights, cup plates, and 19th century lamps.
 Mediterranean
glass vessels dating back as far as 600 BCE represent the earliest
pieces in the collection. One of the most unusual examples of ancient
glass is a Roman form described as a unguentarium, essentially
two blown glass bubbles worked together into a double-bottle shape.
Every ancient glass vessel is extraordinary, however, simply for having
survived intact.
 Patented
in 1878, Lava glass was the first art glass produced at New Bedford’s
famous Mount Washington Glass Company. The formula incorporates volcanic
slag from Sicily’s Mount Etna to create the black color, onto which a
glassmaker gathered colored shards of glass. Extremely rare, the
Stauffers’ collection of 24 examples represents an astonishing lifetime
achievement.
 In
addition, there’s also the Marjorie L. & Warren P. Tingley Collection of
American historical glass, the Carol Dean Bacik Collection of Vaseline
Glass and the Ruth L. & Carl F. Barron Collection of American Victorian
glass.
Early American blown and pressed glass, pattern glass, 17th and 18th
century English tableware, Bohemian and Italian glass, Sandwich glass,
lighting, marbles, cup plates, and many other popular categories all
help to tell the fascinating story of glass.
 Masterpieces
from the collection include glass by Tiffany, Steuben, Lalique,
Baccarat, Sandwich, Swarovski, Waterford, and many other celebrated
makers. Of particular interest is the Crystal Kingdom, an extensive
collection of glass animals that’s popular with younger visitors.
Besides the glass objects, the Museum also showcases many antique
glassblowing tools, molds, and even a 6-foot-high glass press.
Hours - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, Sunday
Noon - 5:00 pm
Closed Thanksgiving
Day and Christmas Day
Admission - Adults: $8, Children ages 7-17: $3, Under 7: Free
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