Antiques show focuses on women
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Women at work at Duncan & Miller in Washington, Pa., circa 1910.
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Organizers of the 37th Pittsburgh Antiques Show are offering patrons a chance to view a glass exhibit that focuses on a topic that's rarely addressed in glass collecting: women.
"Women on Glass Made in America 1850-1910," an exhibit of at least 70 pieces of art glass on loan from Pittsburgh-area collectors, will take up an entire room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Upper St. Clair next weekend, Feb. 18 and 19.
"Many of the items -- which include paperweights, bread plates, match and celery holders, compotes, sugar bowls, lamps and more -- were made by Pittsburgh companies," said Kathy Roth, 68, of Upper St. Clair, who is chairwoman of the education committee for the Historical Glass Club of Pittsburgh.
Displayed will be photos of women working in the glass industry of the early 1900s for companies such as Duncan, Pittsburgh Glass and Seneca in West Virginia.
"We found records from the [The Museum of American Glass in Weston, W.Va.] that show women started joining the glass workers union as decorators in 1891," Mrs. Roth said.
As they do each year, members met last March to select a topic for the glass component for the club's show and sale. After a topic is selected, members bring in examples of the theme from their own collections, then research and write. Show patrons are given a copy of their booklet.
"The booklet gives important information on many pieces in the exhibit, which are broken down into four categories -- famous women, women in nursery rhymes, women in mythology and miscellaneous," Mrs. Roth said.
"Women have been dramatized, fantasized and idealized through the centuries in poems, stories and paintings. Therefore, portraying women as a central theme on glass by many of our glass companies should not surprise anyone. Faces and figures of women were molded into glass, applied on glass and etched onto glass."
The exhibit includes a bread plate that depicts a full-length figure of a woman believed to represent Cleopatra with a landscape background the includes the figure of the Sphinx.
"Something new to the antiques show this year is a shelf in the room with glass pieces, of which we'll ask the patrons to identify the country of origin or manufacturer," Mrs. Ross said.
There also will be exhibits from the Duncan & Miller Glass Museum in Washington, Pa., and the Imperial Glass Museum in Bellaire, Ohio.
The Antiques Show and Sale is the club's major annual fundraiser. Proceeds are donated to various glass museums, the Pittsburgh Glass Center and a scholarship for a student enrolled at the center.
"One of our main goals is to promote the study, knowledge, appreciation and history of American glass, with emphasis on glass manufactured in Pittsburgh region, as well as its relationship to useful and decorative arts," Mrs. Roth said.
Zeta Reis, show co-chair, said some 45 dealers attending will sell primitives, furniture and oil paintings to silver and silver plate, jewelry, toys, pottery, china, linens, lamps and vintage clothing.
The show also will feature demonstrations of chair caning, jewelry repair and cleaning and oriental rug repair.
Admission is $5, ($10 for early buyers). Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 412-734-5279 or www.hgcp.org .
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
