Topic: Knobbly hot worked decanter ID help. ID = Pilgrim Glass, USA

[sayitslowly]

This knobbly glass decanter measures about 14" high and goes from orange to amber to green with the stopper going blue to amber. It has been suggested by one person that it might be Asian because of the ground base with it's rough pontil but I've not found anything anywhere like it. It certainly resembles some Czech and Swedish glass in general style but I wondered if anyone has seen one like this or where it might be from. I did see one stopper similar that was attributed to Italy but mostly I'd just like to know.

Many thanks!

[glassobsessed]

Welcome to the forum.

Interesting piece of glass you have there, very nice. It does have a passing resemblance to to a few designs from Aseda (Sweden) and Skrdlovice (Czech), the rough base is not in itself enough to indicate a Chinese origin, it would need other features too. It somehow looks more Czech than Swedish but don't read too much into that!

John

[sayitslowly]

Thank you John for your thoughts. While I'm not the best researcher of glass I've not found anything online that looks much like this. I thought that if it was modern Chinese I'd at least find some for sale on Ebay but perhaps I'm not using the best search terms. I have looked through numerous glass catalogs of Czech and Swedish glass as well as on numerous glass sites including some new Chinese glass.

I found this in an antique mall but the stall owner wasn't present to answer questions and the sales staff didn't know anything about it at all. I hope this isn't going onto my mystery shelf.

[rocco]

Hi, welcome from me too!

Your pretty decanter doesn't look European to me (particularly the base finish), and neither Chinese -- I think it was made much closer to you
In Leslie Pina's book "Popular 50s and 60s glass" is a Pilgrim Glass advert from 1969, showing two cased decanters, almost identical to yours, same stopper, one blue, one yellow, pattern number 209 and 210.

Michael

[sayitslowly]

Well thank you Michael, that's a great lead as I see that the stopper does indeed look like mine as does the style. I don't know if Pilgrim did multi-color glass like this but it's closer to me than you know. The factory would have been about a 4 hour drive so very close by.  I will certainly see what I can find out. Thank you for the suggestion!

[rocco]

You're welcome

I know next to nothing about American glass, but somehow your decanter rang a bell...
These cased pieces from the West Virginia companies seem rather uncommon.

I attach a small pic of the catalogue page mentioned, showing the two decanters, and also a vase in amber fading to blue, quite close to the colours in your piece...

Michael

[sayitslowly]

Wow thank you for that! It certainly looks likely as a maker. I've emailed the West Virginia Glass Museum to see if they have any information or can direct me somewhere. I might just make a trip over there for a visit!

One summer my father took an interest in glass and we spent several weeks traveling around to many glass factories including some in West Virginia as our family vacation back in the 1960s.   I guess it didn't occur to me that this might be from around here.  Thank you again!

[sayitslowly]

Just to report back, I heard from the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia verifying that this is indeed a Pilgrim decanter only made circa 1969-1970 and is the No. 210 wine decanter.

Many many thanks!

[glassobsessed]

Thanks for letting us know that is great!

[rocco]

Great that the Museum could confirm the ID!
And what a nice story that this piece is linked to some childhood memories

Michael