Antiques & Collectibles Crackle Glass

GLASS: The third most popular collectible in the world, preceded only by coins and stamps. We feel CRACKLE GLASS is the most beautiful. Have you ever seen CRACKLE GLASS in a window when the sun reflects off the glass? A window decorated with different colored crackle are truly breathtaking.

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Crackle glass is known by other names, such as CRAQUELLE GLASS, ICE GLASS, OVERSHOT GLASS. It was the Venetian Glass Makers of the 16th Century, who invented this marvelous process. The glass was immersed in cold water while it was molten hot, thereby cracking the glass.

The glass was then reheated and either mold or hand blown into the shape the glass blower desired. The reheating of the glass would seal the cracks. If you would run your hands over CRACKLE GLASS, you can feel the cracks, but the inside would be smooth to touch. Glass makers from the 20th Century and even today are still using the same method.

Some of the companies that produced CRACKLE GLASS are: Blenko Glass Company, Pilgrim Glass Company, H.C. Fry Glass Company, Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, Hobbs, Bruckunier & Company, Cambridge Glass Company, Kanawha Glass Company. Some of these companies are still operating today, making the CRACKLE GLASS.

We will never forget the day my wife and I discovered CRACKLE GLASS. One day about five years ago, during the month of August, we were in a flea market in Commack, Long Island. We were browsing the different dealers, and I heard a vendor ask a customer, "Would you give me three dollars for this amber cruet?" The woman answered, "No".

I immediately stepped forward and said that I would take the cruet for three dollars. That was it. We were hooked, and five years alter, we have a collection in the area of four-hundred pieces. We would go to tag sales, garage sales, flea markets, auctions, advertise in the papers, pamphlets, circulars, business cards, any way to obtain CRACKLE GLASS.

When purchasing for your collection, make sure you check the pieces to see that they are in good condition; that they are not chipped or CRACKED (even though it is called CRACKLE GLASS).

We have made the mistake many times in purchasing a piece of glass, being over-zealous, not carefully checking the piece, and thinking we have a great buy, only to go home and see the piece is defective. Any defects will automatically devalue the piece. We suggest you hold up the piece to the light and turn it slowly in all directions to see if there are any imperfections. Make sure your piece is properly wrapped to protect it until you get home.

In closing, please be aware that there is new CRACKLE GLASS being produced today out of Taiwan and China. Fenton Glass Company and Blenko Glass Company are also producing New CRACKLE GLASS today. By using our book as your guide, you will be able to distinguish the new from the old.

The older pieces will show more wear marks on the bottom and inside where a stopper may have been. (A cruet or decanter with a stopper or top to it is worth more than a piece without it) We have noticed that the shapes are more imperfect in the older pieces. You may see that they may lean to one side or you may feel bumps or variations in the glass that you cannot see. The fewer the cracks a piece has the cheaper the piece of crackle would be.

If you have any odd pieces of crackle that you are not sure about, please send us a picture with a description to Stan Weitman, Post Office Box 1186, N. Massapequa, New York, 11758, and we will answer you as soon as possible, or you may email me at scrackle@systec.com, and please visit my web store with close to $40,000 of fine glass for sale at http://www.tias.com/stores/crackleking

By Stan Weitman

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Crackle Glass

GLASS: The third most popular collectible in the world, preceded only by coins and stamps. We feel CRACKLE GLASS is the most beautiful. Have you ever seen CRACKLE GLASS in a window when the sun reflects off the glass? A window decorated with different colored crackle are truly breathtaking.