The Rich Cut Glass of Charles Guernsey Tuthill - Hardcover

Crofford, Maurice

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585441481 ISBN 13: 9781585441488

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2001

Synopsis

The American brilliant cut glass tradition is perhaps nowhere better showcased than in the intricate art of Charles Guernsey Tuthill. Born in 1871 in Corning, New York, Tuthill entered the glass trade as a young apprentice, launching a career that would not only produce some of the finest rich cut glass in America but also innovate that art form in ways that adapted to the changing life of the new century.

In this fascinatingly detailed narrative of the business Tuthill founded, the patterns he created, the techniques he used, and the other artisans and consumers he knew, Maurice Crofford has written the story of an earlier, more elegant and leisurely era. For those knowledgeable about cut glass, the development of the forms will be instructive; for others, who simply appreciate the beauty of the glass, the numerous black and white photographs will appeal. Beyond both of those dimensions, however, Crofford provides a fascinating insight into the ways industrialization and mass production and, more especially, the automobile, changed forever the ways upper-class Americans lived, entertained, and displayed their good fortune. In Tuthill's career, moreover, Crofford finds an example of American ingenuity and creative genius in responding to changing times.

The glass itself is of extraordinary beauty, and the descriptions here include the patterns, effects sought, and methods of hand production. Crofford details not only those patterns best known to aficionados of American cut glass of the Brilliant Period but also other patterns retrieved through exhaustive dogging of Tuthill's trail. Through the written records of Tuthill's succession of businesses and in interviews with surviving members of the Tuthill family, Crofford has reconstructed a remarkable catalog of this master craftsman's work and the story of his life and career.

About this title

About the Author:

MAURICE CROFFORD has been a collector of American brilliant cut glass since 1949 and is an independent researcher into the history of the art form. In the late 1930s and early 1940s he attended Texas A&M University, which now houses a major glass collection in its Forsyth Galleries. Semi-retired from a career in the construction industry, Crofford lives in Houston. His articles on cut glass have appeared in Hobstar and Glass Collector's Digest.

Review:

“Written in the you-are-there style of the “new journalism,” the book is a lively read. Drawing heavily on the interviews with the Tuthill family members, it fills a large gap in our knowledge of the cut glass industry.”--Allan J. Waldron, Hobstar (Allan J. Waldron, Hobstar)

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1585441481
• ISBN 13: 9781585441488
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272