Bakewell Glass

Bakewell glass, glassware produced at the factory completed in 1808 in Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S., by Benjamin Bakewell, an Englishman from Derby who became known as the father of the flint-glass industry in the United States. The Pittsburgh Flint Glass Manufactory, then Bakewell & Company, and later Bakewell & Page, operated until 1882. In 1810 the factory began to produce both cut and engraved glass, and from the outset the firm was noted for quality and for the brilliance of its cutting. Since American cut glass was both a novelty and a luxury, the firm attracted considerable attention, and until about 1819 Bakewell’s factory was the only one making cut and engraved tablewares; among its important early commissions was a comprehensive service of engraved glassware for President James Monroe (1817). Early Bakewell glass is characterized by its elaborate decoration and by its use of shapes and cutting patterns adapted from contemporary Irish glass. Around 1824 a number of cut glass tumblers were produced that had embedded in their bases a bas-relief ceramic profile of an outstanding American (e.g., George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson).

The first known patent for pressing glass by mechanical means was granted to John P. Bakewell in 1825 to make pressed glass knobs for furniture. This invention led to the mass production of glass, and for the first time glass tableware and ornamental glass became economical for all income levels.