Collecting Crackle Glass

Crackle glass is a beautiful art glass that sparkles and shines in an array of assorted tiny cracked shapes. Colors are vibrant and will become extremely vibrant when displayed with bright lighting or the sun as a backdrop.

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The technique for making crackle glass is dipping extremely hot glass into cold water during the process of forming the glass. This makes the tiny fine lines in the outer layer of the glass we call crackle. It is then reheated and the tiny fine lines expand and seal when the glass is blown again.

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Crackle glass became very popular in the 1930s through the 70's. In the United States there have been many manufacturers of crackle glass over the years, but originally it was a technique introduced by the Venetians in the 16th century. Producers of fine vintage crackle glass were Bischoff, Blenko, Kanawha and Pilgrim.

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Many pieces of crackle glass are not marked and are hard to identify. Early in production Blenko had a emblem of a hand with the name Blenko above the hand and Pilgrim glass once had a mark that looked like a strawberry. Any crackle glass you find that is marked or still has the original sticker intact is collectible, these pieces are rare and will bring top dollar among crackle glass pieces.

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There are some great research books written on the subject, these books will help you educate yourself about the value, the producers and the era many crackle glass pieces were made. Stan & Arlene Weitman have a series of Crackle Glass price guide and identification books that are great for identifying thousands of pieces of crackle glass. The bargain hunter in me has to advise you to be sure and check your local library or eBay before heading to the book store and paying full price for these books. That being said I do advise purchasing identification books because there is so much reproduction glass circulating with the vintage. Unless you educate yourself you will get scammed.

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I do have a couple of tips for purchasing crackle glass. I know that shaped containers, such as a perfume bottle or a shaped wine decanter are items a collector would find rare. There are also colors that are either rare or they were more costly to create so limited pieces were made. If you should happen to find a cobalt blue, smoke gray, cranberry, ruby red or amberina piece of crackle glass it would be considered more valuable to collectors than any other colors.
I believe Blenko is the only quality company still producing this beautiful glass here in the United States but there are some reproduction pieces coming out of china nowadays. There are also newer artists that have not only learned the craft of glass blowing and the process of crackle glass but have created new techniques. Todays Crackle Glass artisans offers a huge variety of subjects and items to pick from. Nudes, animals, plants and flowers are just a few of today’s offerings, these contemporary pieces are becoming just as collectible as the vintage pieces.

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Crackle Glass has a beauty all it's own, glass blower Jeff Price has a website with pictures that demonstrate the procedure of creating crackle glass. It is so interesting to watch these artists take a gooey blob of glass and turn it into a beautiful piece of art but they do and they do it beautifully!

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