1890s Mount Washington Gilded Chartreuse Art Glass Vase

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Created circa 1890 by the Mount Washington Glass Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts, this exceptional American art glass vase is … Read more Created circa 1890 by the Mount Washington Glass Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts, this exceptional American art glass vase is a striking expression of late nineteenth-century luxury and craftsmanship. Its elegant long-necked silhouette rises from a deeply lobed, melon-form body, combining the sophistication of Gilded Age decorative arts with an unusually vivid and sophisticated palette.

The opaque glass exterior has an extraordinary luminous quality, shifting visually from lemon yellow to brilliant chartreuse as light travels across the deeply modeled lobes. At the mouth, the vessel reveals a rich coral-red interior in dramatic contrast to the yellow-green exterior. This layered construction gives the glass remarkable visual depth and creates an unexpected richness of color when the vase is viewed from above.

The vase is lavishly embellished with raised, intricately tooled gilt decoration. A beautifully rendered pair of birds perch closely together upon a flowering branch, their feathers individually articulated in remarkable detail. Surrounding them is an elaborate naturalistic composition of flowering branches, blossoms, buds, butterflies and finely delineated foliage. The ornament continues around the body rather than being confined to a single presentation face and travels gracefully upward along the elongated neck. An elegant repeating gilt border completes the composition at the mouth.

Mount Washington Glass Company was established in Massachusetts and relocated to New Bedford in 1870, where it became one of the important American producers of luxury art glass during the final decades of the nineteenth century. The company became celebrated for technically ambitious decorative glass incorporating richly colored opaque glass, enameling and gilding. Examples of Mount Washington glass from this period are represented in major American museum collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The underside retains handwritten period notation associated with the production or decoration of the piece. The markings remain clearly visible and are documented in the accompanying photographs. Their precise factory meaning has not been definitively established.

Remarkably preserved after more than 130 years, the vase remains in exceptional antique condition. No chips or cracks are observed. The glossy glass retains its brilliant surface and saturated coloration, while the extensive raised gilt decoration remains exceptionally crisp and well preserved. Minor age-appropriate wear and loss to the gilding is visible, most notably around the upper rim, consistent with the age and history of the piece and clearly documented in the photographs.

Standing 11 inches high and approximately 5¼ inches at its widest point, with a 1¾-inch diameter opening and 3¼-inch diameter base, the vase has substantial presence while retaining the refinement of a luxury decorative object. Its remarkable chartreuse coloration and sculptural silhouette command attention from across a room, while closer examination reveals the extraordinary workmanship of the birds, blossoms, butterflies and foliage.

A superb surviving example of late nineteenth-century American art glass, combining dramatic color, sculptural form, intricate gilding and exceptional antique preservation. See less