No comments about Crackle Glass Too, 1950s-2000 (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1 comments about The Intelligent Layman's Book of Stained & Art Glass: A Unique History of Glass Design & Making (The Intelligent Layman's series).

1. If you have any interest in the beauty of glass, you should have this book. With over 800 images in full color, this richly illustrated volume could be savored only as a visual experience, while at the same time it has been written with intelligence, style and grace for anyone with an interest in glass. That includes the casual browser of art books (like me) and also, I believe, professional scholars and serious collectors. As beautifully produced as any coffee table book, it also is an engaging and important study of a largely neglected aesthetic medium.
   
   People who consider themselves part of the art glass world will find much that is new here, while the superb writing has a wit and sparkle that is largely foreign to strictly academic treatments. It is the writing that sets this book apart and gives it its appeal across the spectrum of readers. Rarely do you find a big book that you can actually read. The authors have a real talent for setting the stage of each chapter, describing the people and the art works, and especially the artistic challenges of each period, with an eye for apt details and description.
   
   The success of this work may be due to the unusual collaboration of two authors, each noted in her own field: a British artist in stained glass and an American decorative arts scholar, researcher, and curator. The result is a thoughtful balance of perceptions, informed by history while grounded in the immediate response to the work of art.
   
   The book has several key themes. It is first a review of the roots of contemporary art glass from the revival, in the late nineteenth century, of medieval techniques for making stained glass windows, then tracing an arc to the world-wide popularity of glass art today as an abstract expression of form, color, and emotion. The interconnection between flat stained glass and `studio' glass (blown, cold worked, etc.) has rarely been acknowledged and has never been explored within the same volume, to my knowledge. Secondly, the book celebrates and documents art glass as a globally evolving aesthetic medium, providing substantive examples from Japan and Australia along with the UK, Europe, and the US. A chapter devoted to Dale Chihuly's international influence calls him a "rock star" of glass; since I suppose more has been written about Chihuly than all other glass artists combined, this label is presumably an example of British restraint. It is, however, in the section on those artists who studied under Chihuly that the authors reveal the wider connections within the glass world. This perspective, which might be considered the third theme of the book, is that glass art coexists with architecture and the `fine arts' (sculpture and painting) within an intellectual framework of theories about art. Not just a craft driven by incremental improvements in, say, kiln technology, for at least the last 150 years glass art has been a medium of ideas. Those ideas and their evolution are the real subject of this book.
   
   Like most people, I am more likely to buy a reproduction in a museum store and to display it on the kitchen table with apples in it, than to own a Chihuly. This book fed my amateur's appetite for substantive big-picture understanding of the evolution of glass art, without bogging me down in minutiae of how scholarship itself evolved. It seems most critics are more interested in dissecting each other's tiny theories than in helping people see with clarity the work in front of them. That is why this book is such a breath of fresh air. It is written both for people who slept through art history classes in college and for the museum curator with specialized expertise but a willingness to think of glass in a new way.
   
   The only thing I can suggest if the book is reprinted, is to include indications of size of some of the pieces. I found myself wondering sometimes if an illustration represented a six-inch or six-foot piece. While I missed seeing some of the best-known monuments of art glass, these are available elsewhere and I appreciated that the illustrations are generally perfect and convincing in support of the text. In fact, it is refreshing to see a book of this beauty that is specifically NOT a bunch of best hits cobbled together around an unconvincing narrative. Instead, I find this an absorbing and thoughtful argument that engages the mind, challenges the eye to see more deeply, and offers new insights that I will be thinking about whenever I look at the windows in a church, glass objects in a museum or antique store, or at the paperweight in front of me (my one piece of truly legitimate art glass, its mysteries will never stop unfolding no matter how often I look at it, and it is the reason I bought this book). This book offers far more than I expected, more illustrations, more ideas, and better writing. It deserves serious attention.

3 comments about The Big Book of Vaseline Glass (Schiffer Book for Collectors.).

1. This is a book on Vaseline glass, but a lot of the pieces in the book are from Europe, not the U.S. If that is what you are looking for, then this is the book for you. The book has great pictures and good info on the chemical makeup of the glass and it's history.



2. Very good overview of Vaseline/Uranium glass throughout it's history. It could definitely use more photographic examples but the verbage is worthwhile.



3. This is an excellent book for anyone that wishes to learn more about Vaseline glass. I already had some knowledge of the glass, but was very pleased w/ alll the information in the book. It has helped me w/ future decisions on glass purchases. I highly recommend this book!!

2 comments about Much More Early American Pattern Glass.

1. This book is a good guide to finding older patterns from the mid to late 1800's through mid 1900's. The pictures are all in black and white, which makes it a bit harder to see some specifics, but in all, it has been incredibly helpful and I would definitely suggest it to anyone researching Early American Pattern Glass. 5 Stars! Thanks Alice Hulett Metz for all of your research!



2. Alice Hulett Metz's Much More Early American Pattern Glass provides an excellent guide of updated values for American pattern glass, including patterns not previously listed and almost 900 photos lending to identification. Don't expect the color photos of some; this is a bare-bones yet important values guide which includes plenty of details on how to see, judge and price good early glass.

No comments about Royal Doulton Animals: A Charlton Standard Catalogue (4th Edition).

5 comments about Glass Toothpick Holders: Identification & Values (Glass Toothpick Holders).

1. This is a very exciting book for anyone who collects glass toothpick holders. I was impressed by how easy it is to look things up and the pictures are plentiful and good quality. It is a definitely MUST have for anyone who collects glass items. When purchasing this book, the one thing you do have to keep in mind is that there is not a lot of coverage of repros and new toothpick holders (such as the ones frequently found on eBay for lower prices) Mainly, this is a reference for true antique pieces from the late 19th and early 20th century. Keep that in mind and enjoy this fabulous book!



2. I recently bought a 74 piece lot of toothpick holders at an estate sale. This book helped me identify several of them. The cross-referencing notes gave me a lot of info that I would not have had. I really enjoy this book.



3. This book is a gold mine for collectors of old and reproduced American-made toothpick holders! Not only does it have excellent photos and/or drawings, it also gives a brief history of many glass makers in the late 1880s to the present time. Also lists original manufacturer, original colors, reproduced colors and the reproduction company. I've been able to verify and/or identify almost all of my thirty or so toothpick holder collection. Fabulous book, highly recommended!
   
   



4. I bought this book because another reviewer said it had all the good pictures of the first edition plus more, and was a must have. (I should have put more stock in her "one star" rating than in her description!) Since I didn't have the first edition, it seemed to be a good bet. It IS a beautiful book! It pictures nearly every holder listed. Some of the pictures could be more clear, but overall, it is a good job. It lists the holders alphabetically by company. Listing by design characteristics would make it easier to find and identify holders. HOWEVER, the holders listed are nearly all late 19th to beginning of the 20th centuries. There is a VERY SMALL section on foreign and modern holders. This needs to be expanded greatly to be useful. I had an entire box full of holders, but could only identify two of them, and one of those was a modern reproduction for which the authors gave no values. So I still have no idea if it is worth anything. A 5-star book if you are looking for a nice coffee table book, but not of much help to the actual collector unless you know you only have 100-year-old holders.



5. This book has all the great toothpicks and pictures of the first
   book. The pictures have been redone and are brighter and clearer.
   Plus there are many new toothpicks and pictures for some that were just drawings in the first book. There is also a new contempory toothpick section and a section on foreign toothpicks.
   I think the authors would have a grandslam if they would of expanded the section on newer reprodutions by the newer companies
   and included information on how to rate the condition and how the condition affects value. Great must own for toothpick collectors.

1 comments about Blenko Catalogs (Schiffer Book for Designers & Collectors).

1. A great book for visual identification of certain Blenko glass pieces and colors.

5 comments about Westmoreland Glass: Identification and Value Guide.

1. Great service from these folks. The book was in excellent condition and arrived in fine time!



2. This is an excellent book that details the history of Westmoreland Glass as no other book has provided before this one. Wilson makes the strong and persuasive argument that Westmoreland was THE leader of decorated glass production in the 1920s and 1930s in the United States, was the first company to produce carnvial glass, and was the leader in the design and production of candy containers. This book details the family history of the author's grandfather, Chas West, and great uncle, George West, in the founding of Westmoreland in the late 1880s till the changing of the guard in the late 1930s to the Brainard family. It is well organized in content and photographs. However, if you are looking for a milk glass book or a book on paneled grape, then do not buy this book. If you are looking for a book that will surprise you about Westmoreland to the point that you did not understand the depth of Westmoreland's contribution to Americana and the U.S. glass making history, then you will be purchasing the correct book.



3. This is a difficult book to rate because it is strong on a few points, but extremely weak on others. It provides the most detailed history of Westmoreland Glass that I have ever seen, and some of the facts are fascinating. However, it is very, very, very poorly organized. Photos are not always identified. Many items are discussed but not depicted in photo or sketch. The price guide in the back uses different names/descriptions than what is used in the text of the book, so you can never be sure if you are checking value on the correct item. I enjoyed the book, but if you want to learn more about various pieces of Westmoreland glass, you will need to buy other books. Unfortunately, I cannot offer advice on what others because I have not found a good one yet. Lorainne Kovar's books are GROSSLY OVERPRICED and still do not do the job they should. I would NOT recommend Kovar's books on any subject.



4. Great history of the company, but I was disappointed in the little milk glass content. The author talks about how important the opal (milk) glass line was for business, but does not offer much samples of it in the book.



5. I was very disappointed in this book. I collect Westmoreland Milk Glass - primarily the grape panel pattern. There was very little in this book on milk glass. A true Westmoreland Glass book would have a great bit of it in there.

2 comments about Early American Pattern Glass: Collector's Identification & Price Guide.

1. Ditto to the above review of this book! "Index, Index, Index!!!" I am a relative newbie to antique glass and started a few months ago trying to identify family pieces. Because of the volume, extensive research, pictures, etc... of this source, I bought it a couple of months ago. What a waste of time and money. This book ***only*** has an alphabetical listing of patterns in the Table of Contents - no index. As I am trying to ***indentify*** a glass pattern - do not know the pattern name, the Table of Contents is useless. I have to laborously search page by page (500+) in hopes of stumbling on a black and white pic or sketch of the pattern. Granted several other glass books only have alpha listings of patterns but they are smaller in volume making it a bit easier to thumb through them. Now Warman's Glass by Schroy does have an index which lists not only pattern names but catagories with sub-levels. Why couldn't this book have taken a little more effort and added an invaluable index?



2. I'm sorry to say this book makes me want to stick a fork in my eye every time I use it.
   
   That's because mostly I need to identify an unfamiliar piece of glass, so I don't have a pattern name yet, and for some reason the authors chose to assume that anyone using this book would already know the pattern name of what they were looking up! Even the table of contents lacks any organization other than alphabetical pattern names.
   
   But most of all, identification is made hair-pullingly difficult by the lack of even a rudimentary INDEX.
   
   The authors have provided no way to look up patterns by characteristics such as 'star and circle,' or 'ribbed with lattice,' etc. The authors of books on marks have managed to come up with organization systems like this - so why is it so lacking in pattern identification books? This is not the only book without an index, even Mauzy's excellent book on Depression glass forces you to look at every pattern on every page when you're researching an unfamiliar piece.
   
   But, what makes this book's lack of index particularly egregious is its enormous size and complexity. Having to look at mostly black and white line drawings of patterns on EVERY SINGLE page of this book's 498 (!) pages of patterns is so discouraging I have yet to actually id a piece. I keep just giving up, which makes this book a waste of money.
   
   In fact, if you have a pattern name, you've already GOT identification, haven't you? All you really need to know is the price and what else is available in the pattern line, which YOU HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED YOURSELF!! The use of the word "Identification" in this book's title is an outrageous lie.
   
   The only way to make this book valuable to the majority of collectors, who have not managed to memorize thousands of EAPG patterns, is to buy another better organized book of patterns and use this one for the exhaustive listing of all pieces produced or reproduced under each pattern name.
   
   Obviously, the authors put a lot of hard work into this huge volume (which is the only reason this torture device still got two stars) but expecting anyone to access all that info without an index is ridiculous. This is a reference book after all, and reference books are meant to be WELL organized.
   
   If the authors had done more than just part of the job, and included at least an index and/or at least one other organization method than alphabetical pattern names, this could have been THE definitive guide to EAPG. What a disappointment.
   
   This was my first book on EAPG so I don't have any alternative suggestions, but perhaps someone else out there does?

No comments about Shoes of Glass, 2.