New England Glass Company

▪ American glass company

      American glass company that was situated in East Cambridge, Mass., from about 1818 until 1888. In the latter year the company's owner, Edward D. Libbey, met a strike of his workers by moving the factory to Toledo, Ohio, where it is still active as the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company. The New England Glass Company made a large variety of wares ranging from pocket bottles and tumblers to attractive art glasses by techniques of molding, mechanical pressing, cutting, and engraving. Some of the finest of blown glass was produced by this factory; it was characterized by its high lead content, simplicity of line, and careful finish. New England glass was also famous for its rich colours, especially a ruby red. Another specialty of great public appeal was silvered glass, used to make doorknobs and tableware in imitation of silver. It is from the last decades of its production that some of the company's most successful art glasses date: a peachblow glass (q.v.), called Wild Rose, which is an opaque, coloured glass with a glossy finish shading from white to deep rose; the amberina glass (q.v.), with pale amber and ruby tones; and the Pomona, which has a frosted surface and a light-yellow colour.

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