Pairpoint Glass and the American Brilliant Cut Glass Period

Pairpoint, the company that has been crafting beautiful art glass for over one hundred years was a merger between two companies, Mount Washington Glass Company and Pairpoint Silver Company. They merged in 1894 to become Pairpoint and a derivative of the company still does business today in Pairpoint Glass Works in Sagamore, Massachusetts. The original company produced hand blown art glass lamp shades as well as cut glass lamps. However, the glass that most people associate with Pairpoint as well as other companies of the time comes from the American Brilliant period, the mid 19th Century to the early 20th Century.

Many companies including Pairpoint produced what is sometimes known as ABCG glass (American Brilliant Cut Glass). This type of glass was usually thick and cut in many patterns, with the hobstar being one of the top designs and motifs generated by all the glass houses of the time. A lot of ABCG collectors favor the signed pieces, especially those by Libbey and Hawkes as well as pieces that were named for American statesmen. ABCG can ranges in price from relatively inexpensive to very expensive. A ruby cut glass wine goblet in the Lincoln Pattern once sold at a Christie’s auction for close to $23,000.