Blenko Glass Olive Cornucopia Horn
View Similar Items
Blenko Glass Olive Cornucopia Horn
About the Item
- Creator:Blenko Glass (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 2.63 in (6.69 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: G41DK - 8151stDibs: 15070688935625
Blenko Glass
A producer of hand-blown glass since 1893, Blenko Glass is currently headquartered in Milton, West Virginia, where it has operated since 1921. Among its many illustrious projects are the stained-glass windows it produced for St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Washington National Cathedral. Blenko is known today for the brilliant colors of its glass vessels and objects—particularly those produced in the 1950s and ’60s—which range from jewel-like blues and greens to brilliant reds and yellows.
The company was founded by William J. Blenko, an English immigrant who was apprenticed to a glassmaker in his native London as a young man. Blenko developed expertise in the production of rondels, the round panes used in stained glass windows. His interest in the potential of natural gas to fire glass furnaces led him to Milton, where abundant reserves of the fuel had attracted a pool of skilled glassblowers. Under the name Eureka Glass, his company began making window glass in 1923, and in 1925, he was joined in the business by his son, William H. Blenko.
When the Great Depression quelled demand for stained glass, William J. Blenko brought local Milton glassblowers into the company to begin producing stem- and tableware, products for which the company, which changed its name to Blenko in 1930, is now best known. Up until the end of World War II, Blenko’s tableware designs were fairly straightforward, and they sold well at American department such as Gump’s, in San Francisco. The company was also commissioned in 1930 to produce a line of reproductions for Colonial Williamsburg.
In 1947, the company hired as its art director Winslow Anderson, who introduced artful, fanciful and modern vessels and objects in vibrant colors. This began what collectors refer to as Blenko’s “historic period.” A number of Anderson’s designs were honored by the Museum of Modern Art’s Good Design Awards in 1950, and throughout the 1950’s and ‘60s, the company enjoyed robust sales and critical acclaim. The forms Blenko produced during this period followed the contemporary vogue for biomorphism, or organic modernism, which favored rounded and fluid shapes inspired by nature.
One of Blenko’s most influential designers, Wayne Husted, who was active from 1953 to ’63, is credited with aligning Blenko’s products with the prevailing mid-century modern aesthetic by pushing the envelope on both form and color, particularly in his wedge-cut and Spool decanters and his Echoes series. Joel Philip Myers, who designed for Blenko in the 1960s, brought a sense of whimsy and visual excess to the product line, in keeping with the psychedelic look favored during the period.
Blenko Glass still produces many of its classic designs in items ranging from stemware and tableware to decorative objects and ornamental decanters. Among collectors, pieces created under Husted’s creative direction are of special interest. The company has come to the attention of younger audiences through the documentaries Blenko: Hearts of Glass and Blenko Retro: Three Designers of American Glass, both of which aired on PBS. Blenko also designed the glass award trophy for the Country Music Awards.
- A Midcentury Swedish Art Glass Dish or BowlLocated in New York, NYA vintage art glass Swedish dish or bowl in blue-grey, produced circa 1950s-1960s. Good condition, with age appropriate wear.Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$700 Sale Price26% Off - Barovier Toso Style Large Murano Glass ParrotBy Barovier&TosoLocated in New York, NYA large sculpture of a parrot, in the style of Barovier e Toso, hand-blown in multicolored Murano glass, with incredibly detailed head, beak and claws. The sculpture is placed on a c...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
MaterialsGold Leaf
- A Carl Erickson Smokey Gray ‘Bullicante’ Bubble Glass BowlLocated in New York, NYA vintage smokey gray 'bullicante' otherwise bubble glass bowl, produced circa 1950's-1960's by Swedish-born glass maker Carl Erickson. Good vintage condition, with age appropriate w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$1,280 Sale Price41% Off - Dorothy Thorpe Etched Mirrored Glass Tray with Lucite HandlesBy Dorothy ThorpeLocated in New York, NYA vintage serving tray, produced sometime between the 1940s and 1950s by designer Dorothy Thorpe, with glass mirror tray, beautifully decorated with layered etchings of floral design...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsLucite, Mirror
$900 Sale Price25% Off - Modern Pale Blue Glass VaseLocated in New York, NYModern glass vase in pale blue glass with short bottle neck, unmarked. Dimensions: 8" Height x 8" Diameter.Category
20th Century Vases
MaterialsGlass
- Vintage Steuben Glass Quatrefoil Console BowlBy Steuben GlassLocated in New York, NYA vintage Steuben Glass console bowl with four leaf or petal like lobes arranged in a quatrefoil shape and elevated on a round base. "Steuben" et...Category
Mid-20th Century American Glass
MaterialsGlass
$563 Sale Price24% Off
- Blenko Art Glass Mushroom CandlestickBy Blenko GlassLocated in Costa Mesa, CAArt glass mushroom candlestick by Blenco, circa 1975Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$60 Sale Price20% Off - Crackle Glass Decanter Manner of BlenkoBy Viking Glass Company, Blenko GlassLocated in Fulton, CAYellow or citrine blown crackle glass decanter with stopper. Made in the manner of the 1960's art glass makers of the mid-century period, Viking, Blenko, Pilgrim, etc. Measures 9.25 ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Solid Glass Block Bookends By BlenkoBy Blenko GlassLocated in Costa Mesa, CASolid Glass Block Bookends By Blenko, textured edge.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsGlass
$220 Sale Price / set20% Off - Pair of Blenko Art Glass DecantersBy Blenko GlassLocated in Norton, MAA pair of Blenko charcoal crackle glass decanters with charcoal crackle stoppers, circa 1950s.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$1,245 / set - Collection of Large Blenko Glass PiecesBy Blenko GlassLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA collection of large, red-orange Blenko pieces, largest measuring 33.25" H.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Glass
$5,500 / set - Blenko Amberina Don Shepherd Glass "Bear Claw" BowlBy Don Sheperd, Blenko GlassLocated in Miami, FLBlenko Amberina Don Shepherd Glass "Bear Claw" Bowl Offered for sale is a Blenko Amberina glass Don Shepherd designed "Bear Claw" five-sided footed g...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass, Art Glass