New Bedford Museum of Glass facts for kids
| Established | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Location | 427 County Street New Bedford, Massachusetts |
The New Bedford Museum of Glass is a cool place in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It has a huge collection of glass! You can see everything from really old bottles made in the Mediterranean to amazing art by modern artists like Dale Chihuly.
Contents
A Look Back: How the Museum Started
The museum first opened in 1993. It was called the Glass Art Center back then. It was located at Bradford College in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
When Bradford College closed, the museum moved. It came to New Bedford because this city has a long history of making glass. That's why you'll see lots of Mount Washington and Pairpoint glass here.
The museum first opened its doors in New Bedford in 2010. It was in an old building from the Wamsutta Textile Mills. After closing for a short time in 2019, it moved again. Since January 2022, it has been in the historic James Arnold Mansion. You can find it at 427 County Street.
New Bedford's Glassmaking History
New Bedford was a very busy city in the 1800s. It had a great harbor and made a lot of money from whaling. Because of this, many businesses came here.
The Mount Washington glass company moved from Boston to New Bedford in 1870. Then, in 1880, the Pairpoint Manufacturing company opened. Pairpoint took over Mount Washington in 1894. Pairpoint kept making glass until 1938. It closed for a bit, then reopened as the Gundersen-Pairpoint Glass Company. Later, it was renamed for the last time to the Pairpoint Glass Company.
What You Can See: The Museum's Collection
The museum has more than 7,000 glass items! The oldest piece is a vessel from the eastern Mediterranean. It was made around 600 BCE.
You can also see European glass. This includes a fancy wine glass from about 1690. There's also an English bottle from 1785. A glass portrait of Arthur Wellesley, the First Duke of Wellington, is also on display. It was made around 1813 by an English artist named John Henning.
The museum has many great examples of early American glass. You can see pieces from famous makers like the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company. There are also items from the New England Glass Company and Thomas Cains' Phoenix Glass Works.
Glass made right in New Bedford is a big part of the collection. This includes Mount Washington's Amberina, Burmese, Crown Milano, Lava Glass, Peach Blow, and Royal Flemish art glass. You can also see engraved pieces from Pairpoint.
Modern artists are featured too. These include Dale Chihuly, Edris Eckhardt, and Harvey Littleton. The museum also has the largest public collection of American political glass. It has over 500 items! This special display is at the New Bedford City Hall.
Popular exhibits at the museum include "Contemporary Paperweights: The Schimmelpfeng Collection." Another cool one is "Atomic Green Vaseline: Uranium Glass in Everyday Life." The museum also has a research library. It's called the Virginia Shaw Rockwell Research Library. It has over 6,000 books and papers about glass.
See also
- New Bedford Art Museum
