Cup Plate

Art Historical Context

This delicate **Cup Plate**, crafted by the Fort Pitt Glass in Pittsburgh between 1825 and 1860, exemplifies early American ingenuity in glassmaking. Cup plates were practical yet ornamental saucers designed to cradle teacups, protecting tabletops from heat and spills during the tea-drinking rituals of 19th-century households. during a boom in American industry, Fort Pitt was one of the leading glasshouses in the glass epicenter of western Pennsylvania, fueled by abundant local resources like sand and coal. The standout feature is its **lacy pressed glass** medium—a groundbreaking technique that revolutionized mass production. Invented around 1827, pressing involved forcing molten glass into intricate metal molds, creating fine, lace-like patterns without hand-blowing. This allowed affordable decorative glass for middle-class homes, blending utility with elegance and marking a shift from imported European luxury to homegrown American craftsmanship. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, this piece from the bequest of Anne Du Pont Peyton in 1944 highlights everyday objects as cultural treasures. It reflects a young nation's pride in innovation, making beauty accessible and preserving the tactile charm of antebellum domestic life.