84 
House & Garden 
I I. 
jurmture 
To those who seek 
the aristocrat of fur- 
niture, the beauty and 
dignity of line in Kar' 
penesque Upholstered 
Furniture makes a last' 
ing appeal. Karpen 
Furniture has that in' 
definable touch of the 
master craftsman of 
today who searches 
both the past and the 
present for his ideals. 
With prolonged 
acquaintance one’s 
appreciation of the 
permanent charm of 
Karpen Furniture in' 
creases. 
S. KARPEN BROS. 
CHICAGO 
NEW YORK 
Light sea-green punch bowl 
with flaring top and molded 
OLD SOUTH JERSEY GLASS 
RICHARD WEBSTER 
AN old document 
dated Decem- 
ber 7th, 1738, 
records an agreement 
entered into between 
Casper Wistar, “brass 
button maker” of 
Philadelphia, and 
Captain John Mar¬ 
shall. By the terms 
of the agreement the 
said Captain John 
Marshall engages, for 
the consideration of 
fifty pounds eight 
shillings sterling, to 
fetch from Rotter¬ 
dam “John William 
Wentzell, Casper Hal¬ 
ter, John Martin Hal- 
ton and Simon Kreis- 
meier, experts in 
glass-making,” for the 
express purpose of 
teaching to Casper 
Wistar and his son 
Richard the art of 
glass-making. The un¬ 
derstanding with these 
experienced glassmak- 
ers from Rotterdam 
was that Casper Wistar was to provide 
land, servants, food, and materials for a 
glass factory in the Province of New 
Jersey, and was also to advance money 
for all expenses, including their support, 
and likewise to give them one-third of 
the net profits accruing from the enter¬ 
prise. 
The factory or glass-house, and the 
other buildings necessary to the works, 
were built at Wistarberg, near Allo- 
waystown in South Jersey, near Salem, 
during the fall and summer of 1739. 
Late in the same year, the plant was set 
in operation. So began the history of 
the first commercially successful and en¬ 
during glass factory in the Colonies; 
the first factory where flint glass was 
made, and indeed any glass more ambi¬ 
tious than the previous rude attempts 
in the small concerns that had nearly 
all come to an untimely end. Part of 
the original factory still stands not far 
Small, light, 
blue bowl, 
of R. W. 
from Alloway, as it 
is now called. 
At this period when 
the Wistarberg Glass 
Works began to op¬ 
erate, wealth was rap¬ 
idly increasing in the 
Colonies, and, as a re¬ 
sult, the Colonists 
were beginning to 
build more pretentious 
houses than those that 
had sufficed in the pio¬ 
neer days. Conse¬ 
quently there was a 
great and increasing 
demand for window 
glass and, likewise, for 
glass bottles of various 
sorts. These two prod¬ 
ucts formed the staple 
output of the Wistar¬ 
berg works and in¬ 
sured the financial 
success of the under¬ 
taking. But other 
articles of household 
ware were made as 
the demand for them 
became increasingly 
manifest. 
An advertisement in the Pennsylvania 
Gazette, in 1769, conveys some notion 
of the ware produced at Wistarberg. It 
reads as follows: 
“Made at subscribers Glass Works 
between 300 and 400 boxes of Window 
glass consisting of common sizes, 10 x 12, 
9x11, 8x10, 7x9, 6x8. Lamp glasses 
or any uncommon sizes under 16x18 are 
cut on short notice. Most sort of bot¬ 
tles, gallon, % gallon, quart, full meas¬ 
ure % gallon cafe bottles, snuff and 
mustard bottles also electrofying globes 
and tubes, etc. All glass American 
Manufacture, and America ought also 
encourage her own manufacture. N. B. 
He also continues to make the Philadel¬ 
phia brass bottons, noted for their 
strength, and such as were made by his 
deceased father and warranted for 7 
years. 
“Richard Wistar.” 
(Continued on page 86) 
hyacinth- 
Courtesy 
Davids 
Light greenish-blue pitcher. 
From Wistar Works, near 
Alloway, N. J. 
