Wine Glass
1870–90
Medium
Pressed yellow glass
Dimensions
H. 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm); Diam. 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm)
Classification
Wine glass
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Emily Winthrop Miles, 1946
Accession Number
46.140.601
Art Historical Context
This delicate wine glass, crafted by Adams and Company between 1870 and 1890, exemplifies the ingenuity of American pressed glass during the Gilded Age. Standing just under 4 inches tall with a 2¼-inch diameter, its sunny yellow hue—achieved through the addition of metallic oxides—evokes the optimism of post-Civil War prosperity. Pressed glass, a revolutionary technique pioneered in the early 19th century, pouring molten glass into intricate iron molds under high pressure, enabling mass production of ornate designs that mimicked costly cut glass at affordable prices. Housed in The American Wi...
About the Artist
Adams and Company
Adams and Company was an American pressed glass manufacturer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose products exemplify the ingenuity and industrial ambition of Gilded Age glassmaking in the United States. The firm traces its origins to Adams, Mackin & Co., established in Pittsburgh in 1851; by 1861 it had reorganized as Adams and Company, operating under that name through 1891, when it became Fa...