Bryce Glass: Art and Novelty in Nineteenth-Century Pittsburgh

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Gl ass ART AND NOVELTY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY PITTSBURGH
Bryce
DEBRA M. COULSON HARLEY N. TRICE Photography by GAVIN ASHWORTH

Fig. 6. Thistle-blossom finial on a Thistle high-footed covered bowl, a naturalistic design patented by John Bryce in 1872 (detail, cat. 23).

James Bryce from Sheep Farm to Glass Entrepreneur

JAMES BRYCE WAS BORN NOVEMBER 5, 1812 , on a sheep farm known as Barstibley in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (ker-KOO-bree), Scotland (fig. 7), where he lived with his father James Sr. (1773–1826), his mother Agnes Ferguson Bryce (1783–1866), and his older brother William (1807–1827?).1

Kirkcudbright is an ancient seaport in southwestern Scotland, located at the mouth of the River Dee, which broadens into Kirkcudbright Bay, just four miles from the Irish Sea. The town may be as old as the early eighth-century church of St. Cuthbert, from which the town takes its name. In 1821 its population was about two thousand.2

James lived with his family at the Barstibley farm for five years. James’s younger siblings Mary and Dunbar were also born there, but Dunbar survived only three months and three days. Some sixty years later, James still remembered Dunbar fondly as a “pretty yellowhaired boy.”3

The Bryce family decided to seek new opportunities in America and set sail on March 12, 1818, with heavy hearts from parting with all their friends and neighbors. At the time of their journey, James was five years old, his brother William was ten years old, and his sister Mary was three years old.

They booked passage on the vessel Jessie of Dumfries, which was cleared to travel from Dumfries, Scotland, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, but not to America; Scottish laws restricted the emigration of mechanics to America. James described their ship: “Our vessel was a brig of the smallest class. Only about four feet between decks and crowded with passengers. There were nearly two hundred and to accommodate all these they had four double tiers of berths up each side of the vessel and a double row up the middle with only room enough to pass up the two alleys that were left between.”4

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Catalogue

THE FOLLOWING PAGES IDENTIFY PATTERNS, novelties, and lamps produced by the Bryce companies between 1850 and 1891, generally presented in chronological order and authent icated by primary or secondary sources. Descriptions of colors produced are based on wholesale catalogues, trade journal reports, photographs, and personal observations.

When a pattern is authenticated as Bryce production based on a primary source—such as the Factory B Catalogue;1 the Bryce, Richards page;2 an illustrated Bryce advertisement; or a patent—it is described as a documented pattern. When authentication is based on secondary sources, such as trade journals, wholesale catalogues, or identical attributes, it is described as an attributed pattern 3

Patterns are generally referred to by the original manufacturer’s name (omn) identified in a primary source. When the original manufacturer’s name is not known or a pattern is also commonly known by another name, that is noted as aka (also known as).

Many Bryce products were reproduced in the twentieth century, and other authors have discussed reproductions in detail.4 Reproductions may lack the detail or quality of the originals or have a slightly different shape; sometimes they were made in colors not originally made by Bryce. Reproductions are occasionally noted in the following pages but are not discussed in detail.

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No. 90 (omn), 1880

Aka Hand and Bar

No. 90, more commonly known as Hand and Bar, is a documented pattern illustrated in the Factory B Catalogue. It was available plain or engraved. Bryce, Walker introduced it in 1880, as reported in the American Pottery & Glassware Reporter (June 24, 1880):

Bryce, Walker & Co., this city, will have ready for the fall some very attractive new styles of ware including two sets of table ware, Nos. 90 [aka Hand and Bar] and 95 [aka Inominata] in their catalogue. Both of these are in plain crystal glass, of good proportions and fine shape, one large in size, the other medium; one with large [No. 90] and the other with small scallops [No. 95]. They will include everything usually made in glass for table service, from largest bowls down to four-inch nappies. These are

made of the clearest glass, are very nice looking sets, and would set off any table.

This report fails to mention the most distinctive characteristic of this pattern—the finial of a hand with fingernails holding a bar (see fig. 49). O’Hara Glass Company of Pittsburgh also made a hand and bar finial, but the Bryce Hand and Bar can be distinguished because when used as a finial it sits on a scalloped base.

Bryce also used the Hand and Bar design for cruet stoppers. In the mid-1880s, Bryce Brothers made colored cruets in several patterns with Hand and Bar stoppers (cat. 50). A hand holding a ring also adorns the handle of the Princess salt and pepper caster (cat. 60). 49 No. 90 sugar bowl

8⅝ × 4¾ inches (21.9 × 12.1 cm).

124 bryce glass

50 Cruets with stoppers

Mid-1880s.

50.1. Crystal No. 103 aka Prism and Diamond Points cruet. 8¼ × 3 × 2½ inches (21 × 7.6 × 6.4 cm).

50.2. Blue Diamond cruet. 8¼ × 3 × 2½ inches (21 × 7.6 × 6.4 cm).

50.3. Light amber cruet. 7⅝ × 2 × 3 inches (19.4 × 5.1 × 7.6 cm). This cruet has not yet been authenticated but it has characteristics that point toward Bryce as the maker, including the shape and attachment of the handle as well as the Maltese Cross stopper.

50.4. Amethyst Maltese aka Jacob’s Ladder or Imperial cruet. 7⅞ × 2¾ × 3½ inches (20 × 7 × 8.9 cm). An amethyst Maltese cruet with a Hand and Bar stopper is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (46.140.293a, b).

50.5. Amber No. 103 aka Prism and Diamond Points cruet. 7½ × 2½ × 3 inches (19.1 × 6.4 × 7.6 cm).

Colored cruets collections of Brad Gougeon and Mary Lamica.

catalogue • part 1: patterns 125

75 No. 1000 table set, celery

Canary.

75.1. Sugar bowl. 9½ × 4⅝ inches (24.1 × 11.7 cm).

75.2. Celery. 8⅞ × 4½ inches (22.5 × 11.4 cm).

75.3. Spoon holder. 6 × 3¾ inches (15.2 × 9.5 cm).

75.4. Butter. 6¾ × 6⅝ inches (17.1 × 16.8 cm).

75.5. Cream pitcher. 6¾ × 5¾ × 3½ inches (17.1 × 14.6 × 8.9 cm).

Collection of Brad Gougeon.

148 bryce glass

76 Assorted tableware

Amethyst.

76.1. Orion goblet. 6⅛ × 3 inches (15.6 × 7.6 cm).

76.2. No. 1000 sugar bowl. 9½ × 4⅝ inches (24.1 × 11.7 cm). Collection of Brad Gougeon.

76.3. Orion high-footed bowl with ruffled rim. 6½ × 9¼ inches (16.5 × 23.5 cm). Collection of Mary Lamica

76.4. Bucket cream pitcher. 4⅜ × 5½ × 3¼ inches (11.1 × 14 × 8.3 cm).

76.5. No. 1000 comport. 4¼ × 9¼ inches (10.8 × 23.5 cm)

catalogue • part 1: patterns 149

Fig. 76. Advertisement for an assortment of Bryce Brothers’ novelties in Butler Brothers, “Our Drummer” (Santa Claus Edition 1887): 38. Courtesy of The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia, Weston, WV.

The basket in the Butler Brothers assortment (cat. 132.1) is described as a “Fancy Hairpin or Burnt Match Basket.” The same form was made by other manufacturers, including Cambridge Glass of Cambridge, Ohio. Bryce Brothers made other baskets, including Wicker Baskets and a footed basket with a wire handle called Basket Compote. The Pottery & Glassware Reporter (April 29, 1886) noted Bryce Brothers’ production of baskets: “Among other things they have small baskets with twisted handles.”

Butler Brothers describes the Fan (cat. 132.2) as a toothpick stand, but at 4 inches high it is large for a toothpick holder. The Bryce Brothers Fan is in the Cane pattern and was made in crystal, amber, blue, canary, and opaque white (sometimes with gold decoration). Other manufacturers made a similar-shaped fan in a Daisy and Button pattern.

The hanging Wall Pocket aka Wall Basket (cat. 132.3) is sometimes found with a small mirror in the circle on the front of the basket. It was made in crystal, amber, blue, canary, and frosted crystal.69 It is illustrated with a perfume bottle inside it in an 1889 Spelman Brothers wholesale catalogue (fig. 77).

The Monkey aka Monkey on a Stump (cat. 132.4) is attributed to Bryce Brothers based on Victorian Glass and its illustration in a G. Sommers assortment with documented Bryce Brothers patterns.70 It is dated circa 1887 based on its illustration in the Missouri Glass Company’s Commercial Solicitor.71 It was made in crystal, amber, blue, and opaque white. It has been reproduced in additional colors with less detail of hair and toes and a more rounded upper rim.72

The Gypsy Kettle (cat. 132.5) is in the Cane pattern and sits on three legs. It has raised rays on the bottom and came covered and uncovered in crystal, amber, blue, and canary.73 The 1888 F. H. Lovell & Co. Export Catalogue describes this novelty as a Glass Kettle for Flowers available in two sizes: No. 1 Gypsy Kettle (2 × 2½ inches, 5.1 × 6.4 cm) and No. 2 Gypsy Kettle (2⅜ × 3 inches, 6 × 7.6 cm). Handwritten notes

indicate it was made by Bryce Brothers. Other manufacturers made gypsy kettles in a Daisy and Button pattern, sometimes with a lid.

Bryce Brothers made open Toy Buckets in three sizes in crystal, amber, blue, canary, and amethyst (fig. 66). The smallest Toy Bucket is pictured here (cat. 132.6). It has also been found in crystal with rose stain, as pictured in Glass Toothpick Holders.74

The Happy Thought mug (cat. 132.7) has a handle with a finger-grip and was made in crystal, amber, and blue. It is in the same wicker pattern as the Bird Basket next to it. It is illustrated in the 1893 U.S. Glass Catalogue of Pressed Tumblers and Beer Mugs where is it labeled “Old No. B., Happy Thought.” U.S. Glass used the designation “Old No. B” to identify an item previously produced by Bryce Brothers, followed by its original manufacturer’s name or number.

Bryce Brothers produced a novelty hand lamp by fastening a Happy Thought mug to a small, ribbed font (cat. 146). This combination furnished the lamp with a handle, and the mug could be used as a match holder. It was made in crystal, amber, blue, and opaque white, so the Happy Thought mug without the lamp may also have been made in opaque white.

Fig. 77. Wall Pocket with a perfume bottle, illustrated in Spelman Brothers, Fancy Goods Graphic 10, no. 2 (Sept. 1889): 106.

210 bryce glass

132 Toothpick and match holders

Blue.

132.1. Basket. 3⅝ × 3⅜ × 3½ inches (9.2 × 8.6 × 8.9 cm).

132.2. Fan. 4 × 3¼ × 1⅞ inches (10.2 × 8.3 × 4.8 cm).

132.3. Wall Pocket. 3⅜ × 2 × 2⅛ inches (8.6 × 5.1 × 5.4 cm).

132.4. Monkey. 2½ × 2¼ inches (6.4 × 5.7 cm).

132.5. No. 2 Gypsy Kettle with wire handle. 2⅜ × 3 inches (6 × 7.6 cm).

132.6. Toy Bucket with wire handle. 1⅞ × 2 inches (4.8 × 5.1 cm).

132.7. Happy Thought mug. 2⅛ × 1⅞ × 3⅛ inches (5.4 × 4.8 × 7.9 cm).

132.8. Bird Basket. 2½ × 3¼ × 2 inches (6.4 × 8.3 × 5.1 cm).

132.9. Daisy toy mug. 2 × 1⅞ × 2½ inches (5.1 × 4.8 × 6.4 cm).

132.10. Coal Bucket with wire handle. 2½ × 2¾ × 2¼ inches (6.4 × 7 × 5.7 cm).

132.2, 132.7 Collection of Mary Lamica.

catalogue • part 2: novelties 211

Bryce Family Glassmakers

James Bryce 1773–1826

Laborer at Bakewell, Page & Bakewell (1821).

Agnes Ferguson 1783–1866

William Bryce 1807–1827?

Laborer at Bakewell, Page & Bakewell (1821).

James Bryce 1812–1893

Laborer at Bakewell, Page & Bakewell (1823).

Apprentice glassblower at Bakewell (1827).

Founding partner at Bryce, McKee & Co. (1850) and successors.

Elizabeth Haugh 1815–1888

Robert D. Bryce 1821–1906

Apprentice glassblower and presser at Bakewells & Co. (1836). Founding partner at Bryce, McKee & Co. (1850) and successors.

John Bryce 1824–1888

Apprentice glassblower at Bakewells & Co. (ca. 1840).

Founding partner at Bryce, McKee & Co. (1850); withdrew to form Bryce, Higbee & Co. (1879).

John Phillips Bryce 1837–1864

Mold maker at Bryce, Richards (1859).

Andrew Haugh Bryce 1842–1909 Clerk at Bryce, Richards (1862). President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1896).

Robert Graham Bryce 1846–1874 Clerk at Bryce, Walker (1868).

David Kerr Bryce 1849–1885 Bookkeeper at Bryce, Richards (ca. 1864).

Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882).

James McDonald Bryce 1853–1919 Clerk at Bryce, Walker (1877). Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882). President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1909).

Samuel Allan Bryce 1856–1936 Clerk at Bryce, Walker (1877). Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882). President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1923).

Frank Gordon Bryce 1858–1922 Clerk at Bryce, Walker (1877). Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882). President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1919).

Marion Graham Bryce 1861–1941

Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882). President of U.S. Glass (1912).

Kenneth Reid Bryce 1884–1909

Salesman at Bryce Brothers Co.

Gerard Saal Bryce 1879–1943

Salesman at Bryce Brothers Co. (1911). President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1936).

Kirk R. Bryce 1884–1952 President of Bryce Brothers Co. (1943).

Charles K. Bryce 1852–1920 Mold maker at Bryce, Walker (ca. 1878); withdrew to form Bryce, Higbee & Co. (1879).

Edwin W. Bryce 1862–1943

Founding partner at Bryce Brothers (1882).

Fig. 85. Bryce, Walker No. 80 cruet stopper, 1880 (detail, cat. 46.3).

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Appendix I

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