BIEDERMEIER ERA, circa early 1840's
Article By Mr. Vaseline Glass (aka: Dave Peterson)

Description	:	From YELLOW-GREEN VASELINE! A GUIDE TO THE MAGIC GLASS (by Jay Glickman/Terry Fedosky, Revised Edition, copyright 1998 by the Glass Press, Inc.), pg. 30: "The rarest type of Vaseline Glass, and probably the most beautiful, is cut Vaseline. It is extremely rare today because of the very small quantities which were made. Manufacturers were reluctant to produce a type of glass which was more costly and, surprisingly enough, unpopular. Only the rich could afford the luxury of cut glass, but more importantly, within that limited cut-glass market itself, the demand was for clear crystal. Clarity and heavy faceting to achieve the ultimate in light refraction were the goals in cut-glass manufacturing, and rainbow-like refractions could only be achieved with clear crystal." Within the specialized field of leaded cut vaseline glass, there is several sub-groups. The oldest is from the "Biedermeier era". This was a period of time in Central Europe and is defined as the period of time between 1815 and 1848. As uranium glass ("Annagelb" as it was called then) was invented in 1840 or just before, the period of time that this glass was made is generally during the approximately 10 years prior to 1848. Joseph Riedel has always been credited with separating the uranium dioxide from the pitchblend, and his company was one of the largest glass houses in Bohemia during that time period. There were undoubtedly others who quickly jumped on the 'yellow-glass bandwagon'. Within about 15 or 20 years of this initial time period, there was also some glass cutting that was most likely made in the United Kingdom era, but no specific manufacturer has been identified. In the time period that is believed to have been 1880's to early 1900's, the Bohemian glass houses also marketed a heavy cut glass that was usually painted and this has generically come to be known as glass that was made for the Persian market. In the mid-1920's, Val St. Lambert popularized a 'two-color cutting'. The inner layer was vaseline, and there was an outer layer that was most often cranberry or blue. Rare examples are also known with a forest green outside layer, and even amethyst. Some limited cut glass was also being made in Czechoslovakia during the 1920s. The only recent cut glass examples have been made in the Czech Republic by a small group of glass houses. There was also a recent special production run that was special ordered by a partnership of four VGCI members, who worked for 3 years to put together all the proper people into place to get the 'two color' vaseline glass made. There are examples of that glass also on this page. All of the smaller photos can be clicked on for a closer inspection of individual pieces. Photos were gathered from personal collections of VGCI members. A special thanks to those who provided photos. Photos from specific members are watermarked in the bottom corner of the photo. Photo & Article Donated To Gallery By Mr. Vaseline Glass (aka: Dave Peterson)