desk set

The problems involved in pressing glass were summarized by a glassmaker in 1849: “If an overplus of metal [glass] be gathered, it thickens the article throughout; but if too little, it fails to fill up the mould, and is spoiled. . . . The chief condition of success, in getting a polished surface on pressed Glass, depends upon the moulds being kept . . . a little short of red heat.” In this three-piece desk set, made about 1830, the color is not well mixed, and the surface has fissures from contact with the mold. Nevertheless, this object, which would have graced the desk of a fashionable home, is a very rare and attractive example of the glassmaker’s craft. Only six such sets are known. This one contains two wells for ink and a slot for a pen.