Cup plate
c. 1850
Medium
Pressed glass
Dimensions
Diam.: 7.6 cm (3 in.)
Classification
plate (general, dish)
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83439
Art Historical Context
Step into the everyday elegance of mid-19th-century American homes with this charming cup plate, crafted around 1850 from pressed glass Measuring just 3 inches in diameter, petite dish was designed to cradle a teacup, safeguarding tabletops from heat and drips during social rituals like tea time—a staple of Victorian domestic life. Pressed glass, the innovative medium here, revolutionized American glassmaking in the 1830s and 1840s. Molten glass was poured into intricate metal molds and pressed under high pressure, enabling mass production of affordable, decorative tableware that mimicked pri...