Pearl Satinglass - Pearl Satin Ware

For many years Pearl Satin Ware, sometimes called Pearl Ware, or Mother-of-Pearl Satinglass, has proved to be one of the most popular collectibles offered to a glass-conscious public. The various patterns in which this ware can be found, plus the many shades and combinations of color which may be encountered, make it to many collectors the most interesting of all the glasses fabricated in the nineteenth century.

The earliest use of a symmetrical or controlled pattern of air traps in a glass body as a decorative feature - the basic principle of Pearl Satinglass, was made manifest in the Venetian's intricate Vetro di Trina. The air traps were formed by the crisscrossing of opaque white glass threads inprisoned between two walls of glass.

Benjamin Richardson, who was considered the father of the English flint glass industry in his day, took out what we believe to be the earliest patented process descriptive of Pearl Satin Ware in the nineteenth century. His invention for "An Improvement In The Manufacture Of Articles In Glass, So As To Produce Peculiar Ornamental Effects", was filed July 27, 1857, and sealed January 26, 1858. The process for manufacturing this peculiar ornamental effect in a glass body was quite simple. A gather of glass was blown into a mold which carried the pattern in projected form. The result was a piece with surface indentations. The parison (the piece still in its molten state) thus indented was dipped in fluid metal to coat the exterior surface. The air traps preserved between the indented molding and the glass skin provided the ornamentation.

Another method for achieving this result was to place the molded piece in a cup of glass blown to receive it, the worker then blowing and shaping the mass further into the article desired. The several layers in each case could be the same color or of different colors, according to the desired effect the worker wished to obtain. Nowhere in Mr. Richardson's patent enumeration did he allude to giving the article a lusterless finish either with acides or sandblasting, as is usually found in the later productions of Pearl Ware.

Another method used in England and America late in the nineteenth century to produce this type of ornamentation was to line a heated mold with glass tubes, either crystal or colored, and blow into this mold an inflated gather of glass. The hollow tubes adhered to the surface of the blow and the parison was rolled on the marver to firmly embed the tubes of glass into the surface of the mass. By deftly twisting the blow while it was still in a plastic state, the worker produced articles of glass with pearly swirled stripes on the outer surface.

There is one type of Pearl Satinglass produced in the late nineteenth century that did not depend on air traps within the body for its pearly effect. The outer skin of the triple-cased article was a thick layer of crystal glass that had been pattern-molded forming heavy bosses thereon. When acidized these bosses presented a lovely pearly effect.

In 1889, Thos. Webb and Sons of England patented a process for manufacturing cameo relief designs on articles of Pearl Satin Ware. After the body of the article had been prepared in the usual way an additional plating of opaque white or colored glass was applied to it. A design was painted on the surface of this additonal plating with acid-resisting inks and the article subjected to an acid bath. The acid bath dissolved away all the opaque white or colored casing not protected with the resist, leaving a design in shallow relief on the surface of the article. A great deal of care was exercised at this stage of the work, for if the article were allowed to remain too long in the acid bath the action would have laid open some of the air traps. The same technique was employed to produce cameo relief designs on plain Satinglass articles.

An interesting process called "die-away" by the glass trade was also used to produce shaded glassware. The rainbow-striped specimens so dear to many collectors were produced by laying what are termed "bull-colored" rods of glass on the body of the article before it was fully formed. On some pieces mica flecks and bits of variegated colored glass were picked up on the gather and made an integral part of the decoration. The decorating possibilities for this particular type of glassware were vast and in an era of overembellishment every known technique was employed.

Some ornamental features used to decorate Pearl Satinglass were: silver deposit, colorful enamels, silver and gold leaf, coralene, applied glasshouse decorations of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. Gold, silver, ormolu and pewter mountings have also graced specimens of nineteenth century Pearl Satin Ware.

In 1925 the United States Glass Company manufactured pressed and molded black Satinglass - centerpiece bowls with wide, flaring edges, candlesticks, vases, compotes with baluster or twisted stems, small trays and dishes for candy, and ashtrays. Most of the black Satinglass was designed with smooth, flowing lines and could still be considered stylish today.

Source: Nineteenth Century Glass - It's Genesis and Development