American Brilliant Cut Glass

Glass making is a process that has existed for over 3500 years. Cut glass can be traced back to 1500 B.C. Egypt. American Brilliant Cut Glass was produced from 1876-1915. Cut glass is decorated by patterns that are hand cut by artisans using different sized rotating cutting wheels. The deep relief cuts are then highly polished which lends to the brilliance of the light reflected off the surface. The Stark collection contains over 1100 pieces of cut glass from the American Brilliant period. The collection includes examples from the T.G. Hawkes, J. Hoare, and H.P. Sinclaire Companies as well as others.