Old New England Glassware in the Home - Part Six- "Your Museum of Bad Taste"

Old New England Glassware in the Home

Part Six

"Your Museum of Bad Taste"

            It was not ‘clear glass ‘ for ‘window glass’.  That glass was bottle glass color tainted (‘tinted’).

            The propensity (Part Five)... of clear glass... is ....clear glass.  In the New England woods

            Time does not stop in western civilization.  This includes stopping for glass making in western civilization.

            “Romans you say?  In the New England woods?”

            “Making glass you say; clear glass you say?”

            The little window of clear glass production that I have opened (Part Five) turns us in our chairs of our living room vantage of...  old New England glassware in the home.  Then this turn-in-chair vanishes and

            Is thereafter... either understood, remembered and denoted (sighted)

            Or

            Lost.

            Your choice; of self and taste... of glassware in the old New England home.

            Now I am going to begin with this chair turn by concisely saying we are

            Speaking of

            Bad taste; at its introductory moment:

            Bad taste of glassware in the old New England home.

            “Prove that” I’m told.

            “Of course we will, Darling.”

            Further... I must high spot the ‘this high spot’ of American (includes New England) glassware production and its relative singularity (short lived) in the global production of glassware.

            And further... I must tie this to Rome; the fallen civilization.  That is... I must make... three points...

            Followed by the ‘or lost’ touch-tagged above.

            This all, too, is in a ‘short amount of time’.  Too.

            BUT IS A FOUDATION for the trivial domestic ponder of

            Good

            Taste

            In glassware in the old New England home.

            So I must... we must... and you... well... ‘may’.

            When the New Hampshire glassmaking consortium made clear glass

            Decanters, et al (Part Five)

            They did so in direct and conscious imitation of Anglo-Irish glassware importations (Part Five).  BUT

            The process of producing their clear glassware was completely different from the way Anglo-Irish glassware was made so this New Hampshire glassware is completely different even though it is a ‘direct and conscious imitation’.  Today, in the antiquarian glassware collector ...consortium... this glassware is called “Blown Three Mold” or “B-3-M”.  This is to denote that this glassware was glassblower hand “blown” in a ‘three piece’ (three folding sections) mold ...with this mold having a craftsmen designed pattern in ‘direct and conscious imitation’ of Anglo-Irish glassware cut glass decorative design.  The difference, please notice, is that the Anglo-Irish is hand cut glass decoration while the New Hampshire forest glassware is ‘mold blown’ decoration. 

            They are completely different methods.

            “Oh.”

            Mold blown glassware, introduced in the New England woods

            DID APPEAR as a production method to make glassware ONCE before in western civilization... before... appearing as a glass design form in New England.  That was within the Roman Empire.  The Romans made ‘blown molded glass’.  No one else did that again until the New England glassmakers ‘did’.

            I am not talking ...in this essay... about Roman blown molded glassware... in the Roman home.  I do very much like Roman glassware and Roman blown molded glassware.  In fact I will say that I have long especially aspired to ‘own’, ‘handle’, ‘buy and sell’ ‘a’ “Roman fig bottle”.  That is a small blown molded glassware bottle in the shape of a fig.  There are multi versions of the true Roman specimens.  There are ...several hundred years of blown molded glassware FAKES of Roman fig bottles.  Too.  “Good luck with that”.

            What I have just said... that is relevant to glassware in the old New England home... is that a singular form of glassware production was, at the 1815 date, used in New England to make glassware for the old New England home and that

            This process was only used once before; by the Romans in Rome.

            That; these two glassware-in-home efforts, leaves us my first ‘effort’... ‘taste’; ‘good’ and ‘bad’

            Right?

            Yes.  Because I don’t care if you know what this glassware ‘is’.  I mean... what... do I need you around for squawking about ‘blown three mold’?  I don’t need you.  Plenty of people with good taste already have ‘been there – done THIS’ and are... inclusive of the cultural crash and burn of old New England good taste by the NEW New England... bad taste... STILL ‘in there’ on this (B-3-M).

            But I touch the ‘good-bad’ taste base... and head for home; the old New England home.

            Ok:  No one cares what you think is good glassware.  No one cares about your juice glasses (Part One and there after) and that you ‘like them’.  No one.  Box store taste is ‘no’.  Museum taste is ‘yes’.  “WHAT?”

            That’s right;  I don’t like.  I am a dealer.  I don’t “LIKE”.  I only ‘like’ what

            MUSEUMS LIKE.  They

            Know what they are doing

            Know about design history and heritage

            Know what a ‘good’ is

            Know what a ‘bad’ is

            AND MAKE this a ‘known’ and ‘available’ to ‘everyone’... often in blocks of time of, like, ‘one hundred years’ meaning that they have, like, ‘recognized’ the ‘design merits’ of an object for a longer time than ...YOU... WILL BE ALIVE trying to foist your petty ‘I LIKE” on... no one listens to you I promise.

            So IF WE FIND HERE that ‘from our collections’ the Metropolitan Museum of Art  (NYC) was offering ‘handcrafted copies’ of New England blown three mold glassware in their, ah... gift shop... beginning in the 1970’s and are ‘still at it’... is that a warning shot at your glassware (‘juice glasses’) taste foist?

            YES.

            AND if in the realm of ‘my fellow travelers’ OF true antiquarian blown three mold ‘friends’... they say that the ‘copies’ are ‘very inferior’ to the actual glass.... the actual glassware originals... although their FORM is ‘very good’ ‘in most cases’ “ah...”:  You want, like, ‘hardball’?

            The Met made copies of B-3-M ‘barrel tumblers’ that:  EVERY antiquarian B-3-M collector ‘likes’ the ...real.... blown three mold barrel tumblers... and do too “LIKE” the Met’s copies so:  Like, I can sell ‘anyone I get’; real, copy, what ever.  I never have any ‘around’ because they SELL.

            And YOU

            Can buy a ‘set’ of the Met’s B-3-M barrel tumblers and

            Use them as juice glasses (they ARE perfect for that) and, thereby,

            SHOW YOU HAVE GOOD TASTE  of old New England glassware in the (your) old New England

            HOME.

            And, of course, one, using these, would know the merits of them (the barrel tumblers), their design history, their history in the old New England home and, of course, the button down collar of

            “THEY REALLY ARE VERY NICE”.

            Sip.

            Sip.

            Sip.

            All derived from one... visiting museums ...TOO.

            Once the tank of the museum’s ‘taste’ has been released upon the  your ‘I like’...

            The decent and polite manure (maneuver) is to surrender.  Go to the gift shops at Corning, Sandwich and the Met and

            Buy the B-3-M barrel tumblers and use them to serve juice and

            Your done.

            With correctly, knowingly and with good taste, having installed the proper glassware in the (your) old New England home.

            One could, as option “A” (?), actually gather REAL antique B-3-M glassware... TOO.  This is NOT hard to do.  But, ah... I realize this is ‘asking a lot’.  It IS easier to be tawdry with ones tawdry glassware in ones tawdry “your

            Museum of bad taste”

            Home.

            One day I came to the grocery store check-out-lane to find before me a “Mrs.” who I respect but upon glancing down into her shopping cart I noticed a ...and said to her “Your not going to feed him (her husband) THAT” to which (witch) she smiled and replied “He’ll never know the difference”.  YOU may not know... or get away with a  ‘not know’ ‘the difference’ of

            Glassware in the old New England home.

            But I would be careful doing that.

            Women are foolish looking with their crummy glassware?

            Men just look stupid with glassware.

            Because they ARE stupid with glassware.

            Women are foolish looking with

            Their crummy glassware.

            “Serving” ‘on’ or ‘from’...a ... “ah...”

            At least it IS ‘over fast’;  “They don’t know” is whispered

            “Their glass”

            “Ah....”  And it isn’t cute either.  Its sad and often pathetic.

            In the realm of ‘quality people’.

            For... very

            Very

            VERY

            Nominal amounts of money and a few little museum visits with... ‘self study’ one may,  for example, and remaining with New England B-3-M, ‘get on top of’ this glassware-in-home... nightmare in home horror... show.  Starting with the last word; ‘show’, try to avoid doing that until YOU know what YOU are showing ‘everybody’.  It is a deceptive and small curtsey on the hostess’ part but... yeah... might want to look  into that...

            While cleaning out and recycling the, ah, ‘glassware’ in the dining room cupboard.  Too.

            When I look up from this hateful poise upon your glassware... what do I see.  Well very fairly I tell you I do not see you and I... DO... NOT... WANT... TO... see you. Yes for in my little... old of the New England glassware... cosmos... the GLASSWARE keeps ‘those people’ away from me... and I didn’t want to be around them ‘anyway’.  I like the museum ‘I go to them’ crowd.

            I do.

            So if I come upon a Metropolitan M. of A. gift shop copy of an 1825 B-3-M ‘Baroque’ decanter set ‘being used’ on the dining room sideboard of an... old New England home... I have a ‘my kind of people’ reaction merged DIRECTLY with the ‘those (not knowing their glassware) people are not here thank you’ bonus  point.  This ‘Baroque’ decanter is a classic and very well documented old New England decanter form... once made for and found in ...old New England homes.  Little study is required and a MET copy is fine.  Especially

            When one quickly discerns that NO ONE KNOWS what it is... and there is a long history of this.

            How long?

            Well I bought my ‘first one’; a real one, in, like, 1970, or earlier for... I remember clearly, four dollars and fifty cents.  I found out very fast that ...no one knows what this is (read; ‘they have bad taste’)... and that keeps on to RIGHT NOW.  Therefore... one may rather easily ...procure... actual real antique specimens, ‘sets’ and similar design variants (including, for example, French blown molded ‘Baroque’ tumblers ca. 1830...) ‘with little difficulty and

            AND

            AND

            Be assured that if one places and uses this glassware in one’s old New England home that the vast majority of those you let view this glassware ...will not... know ...anything... about it

            AND... this poise will carry to ALL of the people one did not want around TOO.

            Surpassing snotty... ness... and the all that... this ‘knowing’ old New England glassware placed... ‘in the home’ IS... an impassable abatis (French; military field fortification fixture of sharp pointed sticks) of

            Good taste.

            Few may ‘get around’.

            And... there is quite a bit more to the story of ...glassware in the old New England home. These posted rants have been... just...

            Introduction.