Wine Glass
ca. 1885–87
Medium
Blown glass
Dimensions
H. 4 in. (10.2 cm)
Classification
Wine glass
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Emily Winthrop Miles, 1946
Accession Number
46.140.508
Art Historical Context
This delicate wine glass, crafted by the Hobbs, Brockunier and Company around 1885–87, exemplifies the artistry of late 19th-century Americanmaking. Produced at the renowned Wheeling Glass Works in West, the firm was a leader in the post-Civil War boom of industrial glass production, blending European techniques with American innovation to create elegant tableware for growing middle-class households. Standing just 4 inches tall, this blown glass piece reflects the era's emphasis on refined domestic luxury, when finely crafted stemware symbolized sophistication at dinner parties. Blown glass, ...
About the Artist
Hobbs, Brockunier and Company · 1863–1891
**J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company**, a pioneering American glass manufacturer, traces its origins to 1845 when John L. Hobbs and James B. Barnes, both former supervisory employees at the prestigious New England Glass Company in Massachusetts, leased the idle South Wheeling Glass Works in what is now Wheeling, West Virginia. After several reorganizations amid partner changes—including the addit...