Hawkes Cut Glass

In 1880, when Rutherford B. Hayes was in the White House and Frank Woolworth had opened America's first "five and ten cent store" and Thomas Edison had just patented the phonograph, a young Irish immigrant named Thomas Gibbons Hawkes opened the doors of the Hawkes Rich Cut Glass Works in Coming, New York.

Hawkes had worked for a decade at the glass-cutting firm of Hoare & Dailey in Coming, but he felt it was time for him to strike out on his own. Hawkes had a very distinguished family background in glass.

The Hawkes family was famous in England for quality cut glass and his Irish forebears included the Penrose family, founders of world-famous Waterford Crystal.

Hawkes timing was good; America had developed a fondness for cut glass. Although most cut glass during this time was imported, Hawkes was confident he could produce glassware even more beautiful than that, which was coming from Europe.

About 1882, the Hawkes factory unveiled a new pattern they called "Russian." Many experts today mark the introduction of this pattern as the point at which American cut glassware became perhaps the richest in the world, both in workmanship, quality of glass and beauty of design. This was the dawn of the "Brilliant Period."

Glassmakers began to use curved lines in cut designs. Lines grew curvier, cutting deeper and more elaborate. American glassmakers specialized in creating and patenting new geometric designs.

The Hawkes Cut Glass Company produced some of the finest and most inspired pieces. For many years, only very upscale shops, department stores and jewelry stores sold the "rich cut" glass.

In 1889, the attention of the world was focused on the Paris World Exposition. The Eiffel Tower was the centerpiece of the event. In the midst of the excitement, a Hawkes cut-glass whiskey jug in the Chrysanthemum pattern took grand prize.

Winning the coveted award brought great hone and prestige to the Thomas Hawkes firm and helped to further establish American glass as a leader on the international stage. With the advent of electricity, Hawkes and other glass-cutting firms took advantage of the improved speed and increased power in cutting tools.

Hand labor was still needed to produce products that would meet with Thomas Hawkes' approval. Teams of workers were needed to create each piece. In fact, it was the need for such intensive hand labor that brought about the demise of the Brilliant Period.

Labor costs escalated and World War I began. It was "the beginning of the end" for Brilliant Period Glass. Tastes were changing and the rapid technological developments brought cheaper (albeit inferior) products into the American marketplace.

Thomas Hawkes died in 1913, and the presidency of Hawkes Company passed to his son Samuel. For another 30 years, Samuel continued to run the company. Samuel retired after World War II and his son, Penrose Hawkes, tried to keep the company afloat, but times had changed too much.

After 1964, the Tiffin Glass Company of Ohio purchased Hawkes' equipment and the distinctive Hawkes trademark.