Cup Plate
1825–60
Medium
Lacy pressed glass
Dimensions
Dimensions unavailable
Classification
Cup plate
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Anne Du Pont Peyton, 1944
Accession Number
45.100.169
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 t...