A vibrant study of the history and production of the Bryce glass company, one of the most successful designers and producers of pattern glass tableware, novelties and lamps in the nineteenth century. Scottish immigrant James Bryce (1812?1893) began his glassmaking career at the age of ten as a child labourer on the floor of a Pittsburgh glasshouse working for $1.25 a week. In 1850 he founded his own glassware company just as pressed glass was increasing in popularity. Pressed glass transformed the lives of everyday people by making beautiful tableware widely available to those who could not afford the expensive blown and cut crystal enjoyed by their wealthy neighbours. Bryce became one of the largest producers of pattern glass in America and by 1871 was shipping its products all over the world. The company continued operations for 113 years, guided by second and then third generation family members. This volume celebrates the beauty and artistry of the naturalistic designs, colourful tableware, and whimsical novelties Bryce produced between 1850 and 1891. At its heart, this book is a highly-illustrated work with 190 newly commissioned colour plates beautifully photographed by leading decorative arts photographer Gavin Ashworth. It concludes with a compendium of authenticated Bryce products illustrated primarily with period line drawings that will be a valuable tool for both sophisticated glass scholars and casual collectors alike. AUTHORS: Debra Coulson is a life-long Pittsburgher, retired environmental attorney, and long-time collector of American antiques, with a particular interest in early Pittsburgh history. Bryce glass is in Harley Trice's blood-he is a great-great-grandson of company founder James Bryce. He is actively engaged in the antiques and art community, co-authoring publications, and organising and cataloguing exhibitions highlighting the best of nineteenth-century western Pennsylvania art and antiques, especially glass. Gerald W. R. Ward is the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston SELLING POINTS: . This is the first book devoted to the history and production of the Bryce glass companies of Pittsburgh founded by James Bryce . From the National American Glass Club to the National Toothpick Holder Collector's Society, there are so many groups who are passionate about these collectable objects . Exceptional photography by well-known decorative arts photographer Gavin Ashworth of New York City Historical descriptions told in the words of company founder James Bryce, as recorded in his journal handwritten between 1834 and 1876 . Scholarly documentation of Bryce production, supported by primary and secondary sources . Compendium with illustrated, documented descriptions of Bryce production 220 colour, 170 b/w illustrations
