Covered goblet (pokal)

Owing to technical challenges and the expense of glassmaking, most window and table glass was imported from England. In 1784, however, Amelung, German entrepreneur and glassmaker, arrived in Maryland with skilled workmen, technical expertise, and financial backing from merchants in Bremen, Germany. For the next decade, Amelung's New Bremen factory-perhaps the largest industrial enterprise in the country-produced such beautiful and ambitious glass objects as this goblet made for a Pennsylvania church. Despite its artistic success, New Bremen was forced into bankruptcy, undermined by the vast influx of inexpensive, English glass.

Although glassmaking in early America began in the seventeenth century at a variety of locations, technical difficulties and England's mercantile policy prevented it from flourishing. In the eighteenth century, German immigrants Caspar Wistar and Henry William Stiegel started successful glasshouses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively, using skilled workmen imported from Germany. However, most window and table glass used in the colonies continued to be imported from England.Another German immigrant, Johann Frederick Amelung, arrived in Maryland in 1784 with many skilled workmen, technical expertise, and financial backing from merchants in his hometown of Bremen. For the next decade, Amelung's New Bremen factory-perhaps the largest industrial enterprise in the country at the time-produced some of the most beautiful and ambitious glass objects created in eighteenth-century America, including many engraved presentation pieces for a distinguished clientele. Despite this artistic success, New Bremen was forced into bankruptcy, undermined by the vast influx of inexpensive English glass in the post-Revolutionary economy.This goblet is closely related in its form and chemical composition to documented New Bremen work. Bold in silhouette, with a large, easily grasped knop between the flaring bowl and substantial, domed foot, the goblet has a strong, almost visceral, presence that belies its inherent fragility. It was probably used by the Evangelical Reformed and Lutheran congregation of Bender's Church, established in 1781 in Biglerville, Pennsylvania, only about forty miles north of New Bremen.This text was adapted from Ward, et al., MFA Highlights: American Decorative Arts & Sculpture (Boston, 2006) available at www.mfashop.com/mfa-publications.html.