Lamp

Art Historical Context

This elegant lamp, created between 1850 and 1860 by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company and the New England Glass Company, represents a high point in mid-19th-century American glassmaking. Standing twenty inches tall, the piece combines blown and cut glass with marble and brass, materials that together convey both delicacy and solidity. These New England firms were renowned for their technical expertise, producing objects that brought refined European-inspired design within reach of prosperous American households. The techniques visible here—free-blowing followed by precise cutting—allowed artisans to achieve luminous surfaces and crisp decorative patterns that catch and refract light beautifully. Marble provided a stable, luxurious base, while brass fittings added both strength and ornamental detail. Such hybrid construction was typical of the period’s growing taste for layered, opulent lighting that enhanced parlors and dining rooms. Now part of the Metropolitan Museum’s American Wing, the lamp reminds visitors of a time when domestic illumination was becoming both practical and artistic. Its gift to the museum in 1983 ensures that today’s audiences can appreciate the craftsmanship that helped define American decorative arts during the antebellum decades.

About the Artist

Boston & Sandwich Glass Company|New England Glass Company · 1825–1888

The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, a pioneering force in American glassmaking, was established in 1825 in Sandwich, Massachusetts, by visionary entrepreneur Deming Jarves, who had honed his expertise as an agent for the New England Glass Company in Cambridge. Jarves built the factory on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal, incorporating it formally the following year with Boston investors. Drawing o...