Museum of Connecticut Glass Open House

Free blown and dip mold New England glass.

 The Museum of Connecticut Glass held one of its monthly open houses this weekend. The Museum has a very limited, all-volunteer staff, but they are trying to have regular public educational events and shows during the warmer months. The main event for June was a spectacular display of early glassware and bottles from the collection of Tom Marshal. Tom has been acquiring his glass since the 1980s, and focuses on primitive free blown bottles and tableware, particularly forms and colors that can be associated with Connecticut, or at least the general New England area. Many of these objects are quite unusual and rare, and it was a treat to see so many in one place. Tom and other Museum volunteers gave informative talks about antique glass and glassmaking, and there was also a bottle sales area set up to benefit the Museum.

Bruce Mitchell and Alan Lagocki talk about glass making and early glass factories in Connecticut in the Museum's barn display area. The famous $3 bottle tables are by the window, with some real bargains to be had.

More of Tom Marshal's pre-1840 Connecticut-ish tableware, utilities and unique "end-of-day" items, in the kitchen window of the Capt. John Turner house.

A small display of later 19th and early 20th Century decorative glass, mostly made by the Meriden Flint Glass Company, from Bruce Mitchell's collection.

Freeblown and pattern molded inkwells, attributable to the Pitkin Glass Works or possibly other contemporaneous Connecticut factories. The "Pitkin hat" at left is a bit cracked, but one of the few known examples of an exceedingly rare and desirable end-of-day type item.