Art Institute of Chicago

Bottle

Artist unknown (American, 19th century)

Date

1835–45

Medium

Pattern-molded blown glass

Culture

Midwest

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

By the late-eighteenth century, American glass blowers had developed the technique of pattern molding. Using this method, the gaffer (the individual who blows the glass) collects a portion, or gather, of molten glass on the blowpipe. The glass is then pushed into a fluted or ridged mold, removed from the mold, and then blown. In this way, the molded decorative ridges expand and can be twisted, as shown in this bottle. Pattern molding was the most common method of glass decoration in the United States until the technique of press molding was developed in the 1820s.

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