Cranberry Glass History and Information

The art of glassblowing was not discovered until about the first century B.C, when a glassmaker's tube accidentally closed on one end, To remove the blob of glass, he blew into the tube from the other end, instead of opening, the blob formed a bubble-and he had unintentionally invented glassblowing. The same principle is still used for glassblowing today.

It almost seems natural to focus on the Victorian age when cranberry glass comes to mind. Each beautiful Cranberry glass creation has the effect of creating an element of the romanticism.

During mid-1800s through the end of the 19th century, glassblowers refined the art of making cranberry glass to create everything from vases and pitchers to decanters with matching tumblers. Some of the most rare and expensive items found from this era take the shape of beautiful lamps and other lighting fixtures.

Although it's fairly common to see these types of decorative items in stage and screen depictions mimicking this bygone era, the formula used to develop the deep pink glassware dates back much farther.

Adding a bit of gold to a batch of molten glass in 1612, Italian glassmaker Antonio Neri discovered the secret required to produce "wondrous red glass that shimmered with the natural beauty of rubies..."

The online Glass Encyclopedia offers a conflicting explanation on the origin, noting the "recipe" for red glass had been lost for centuries and then rediscovered in Bohemia during the 17th century. They go on to say that Venetian glass crafters had tried to make red glass unsuccessfully for years.

These types of contradictions often come into play in the world of collecting. Since we're looking back through centuries of information, researchers often have a hard time pinpointing exact dates and origins of some of today's most popular antiques.

Regardless of the true origin of rediscovery, there are a couple of facts everyone seems to agree upon. Cranberry glass does indeed use gold chloride in its manufacturing process and the Romans made the famous Lycurgus cup of red glass, cranberry's cousin, way back in the fourth century. The amount of gold chloride used intensifies the red color, but it's basically the same process.

Although Victorian cranberry glass still graces the shelves of antique shows and shops, it's much easier to find new items these days. Rossi Glass (manufactures for Amadeo Handblown Glass produces authentic Cranberry glass items sold in department stores and gift shops.

Adding opalescent decoration featuring coin dots, daisy patterns and numerous other styles attracts even more collectors to this artistic glassware. Even folks who don't "collect" enjoy owning some of these colorful pieces when they compliment a decorating scheme.

Most frequently seen styles in Cranberry Glass: Vases, pitchers, bowls, paperweights, lamps, goblets, ornaments, figurines, frames, bells and many other varied forms.

Whether old or new, cranberry glass has never been easy to make. A slight mishap in the formulation can muddy a batch of glass and render it useless. "Gold ruby" glass, as it's known in Europe, still gets the same hand blown or molded treatment it did 100 years ago. History and chemistry aside, however, once the truth was known, it never lost popularity and value.

Click here to learn more our special glass making process.