Sugar Bowl 1827 - 1835

This sugar bowl was produced by the New England Glass Company, sometime between 1818 and 1888. It is made from pressed glass. The New England Glass Company was one of America's earliest and most prolific glass manufacturers. The company's products were widely distributed throughout the United States, and often imitated. This particular sugar bowl reflects the 19th-century interest in creating affordable luxury items for the home. The technique of using molds to create elaborate designs, combined with industrial production, allowed glassmakers to produce large quantities of decorative items like this one, with intricate patterns and details. However, behind the bowl's beauty lies a complex history linked to global trade and colonial exploitation. Sugar, once a rare luxury, became a mass commodity through slave labor in the Caribbean. Therefore, a seemingly innocent object like this sugar bowl reveals the contradictions of 19th-century America, where technological innovation and artistic skill were intertwined with social inequality. Careful research into the company's records and analysis of the social history of sugar consumption could offer insight into the meanings of this everyday object.