Commemorative Pokal Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the 1962 Toledo Glass Workshops and Fritz Dreisbach's 30 Years of Working with Glass

A studio glass pioneer, Fritz Dreisbach is an influential teacher, artist, and historian. He has spent his career teaching and demonstrating glassblowing across the United States and around the world. Dreisbach has also devoted much of his time to documenting the American Studio Glass movement's early years. The images and inscriptions on this Pokal chronicle important names and events in the history of American studio glass. This Pokal was inspired by the large toasting vessels made in Germany from the 17th to mid-19th centuries. These vessels were often decorated with elaborate motifs and inscriptions. Like its precursors, the Dreisbach Pokal has both Hochschnitt (relief) and Tiefschnitt (intaglio) engraving. Images include the American eagle holding a blowpipe, jacks, ladle, and shears in its talons; the hot shop at the Pilchuck Glass School; and Dominick Labino's furnace for melting glass. The applied and carved colorless snake wrap on the stem symbolizes the ancient Great Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. The inscriptions mention the seminal 1962 Toledo Glass Workshops at The Toledo Museum of Art, the first important studio glass exhibitions, influential artists in the early days, and university and summer glass programs across the United States.