Sandy and I have become very interested in the preservation of Pairpoint Lamps. We have noticed for years the proliferation of unused and discarded bases because they are missing their original decorated glass shades. Let’s face it, what good is a lamp without a shade, especially when Pairpoint was known for their glass puffy and reverse-painted shades? In the hundred years that have passed since these lamps were popular, many, many shades were broken or lost, and they’re not replaceable. Unfortunately, for many people, when the shade is broken, the perception is formed that the base has become useless and unwanted. This misperception creates an unfortunate but practical reality.
 
     Most people don’t realize that Pairpoint offered their lamps in scores of configurations and finishes that included numerous hardware variations as well as Parchment and Silk Oval, Conical, and Empire-style shades. Pairpoint purchased their silk shades from the Murray M. Harvey Manufacturing Co., 6 E. 39th Street, New York, in three sizes, 8”, 12”, and 16”. Armed with this information, no Pairpoint lamp base needs to be abandoned for want of a glass shade. All that needs to be done to resurrect these lamps, and retain a semblance of originality, is to slightly reconfigure the top hardware to accept a spider-mounted non-glass shade. After all, this is what Pairpoint did when a customer wanted something other than a Puffy or Reverse-Painted shade. Pairpoint offered hundreds of configurations for their bases.
 
     Arguably, no lamp manufacturer from any decade over the last hundred years made better lamps than Pairpoint; lamps purchased today cannot come close to the quality of materials, workmanship, or design…and they are expensive. An astute consumer, having an eye for quality and an appreciation of history, would serve himself well to purchase a derelict Pairpoint lamp base and have it restored and rewired prior to installing a current Silk, Conical, or Empire shade. When all is said and done, the consumer will have a high quality historically significant utilitarian work of art to fill a necessary place in the home. And, the lamp will retain its value while the new lamp depreciates to second-hand status as soon as it leaves the retail store.

Marion and Sandra Frost
​June 8, 2022

​It was during 2005 that Sandy and I met Myldred Costa. We were working on our second book and, quite unexpectedly, Myldred contacted us because she discovered Pairpoint catalog pages among the belongings of her deceased Godfather, Carl Sylva. It was one of those convergence moments in time.
 
Myldred was a resident of North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, an adjoining town to New Bedford, home of the Pairpoint Corporation. Her mother had been an office employee at the Pairpoint and Carl Sylva was one of the engravers through the 1920s and 1930s. Carl lived with Myldred during the latter years of his life.
 
Myldred was very generous with her time and first-hand knowledge of the waning years of Pairpoint’s existence. She shared many stories about Pairpoint and its workers. Her family was part of the Pairpoint family and regularly socialized with many of the now-famous glass workers and engravers. Among the things she gave to us were numerous photographs taken of Carl Sylva “hanging-out” with Ollie Cayton, George Avila, Louis St. Aubin, and others. There were photographs of Carl working at his cutting bench in Myldred’s home.
 
One of the stories was about a Pairpoint Radio Lamp (E3037) depicting a panther on an orange-red background. She gave us a photograph of the lamp sitting on a table, half-hidden, behind Carl Silva. According to Myldred, this lamp was one of only a few made as gifts to Pairpoint salesmen and management. She said it was never offered for public sale. With my amateur Photoshop skills, I reconstructed the image so that the complete lamp could be presented for view. Both the original photograph and my reconstructed photograph are presented here.
 
I have been operating under strict orders by my better-half to buy one of these lamps if they ever come up for sale. I’m still doing all the laundry, because I haven’t delivered the goods yet. Can anyone help?

We regularly receive inquiries about Pairpoint lamps and have reluctantly had to explain that lamps are not within our field of study. With the exception of Pairpoint's Electric Candles, we know enough to be dangerous.

Well, Pairpoint Lamps are still not within our field of study, but, over the past few years, we have been able to compile a great deal of information on the topic. We found in our records an original Lamp Department notebook and other Lamp Department documents that were loaded with information. Unfortunately, we had no images or catalog pages to make any sense of things.

We now have access to many catalog pages as well as many images which puts us in a position to possibly offer some assistance to anyone needing information about a lamp or lamp base. While being far from comprehensive, we have a lot of information that we are willing to share. If you want to make any inquiry, go to our Message Center and contact us. We are always willing to share.

Marion and Sandra Frost
​September 29, 2021

These obverse decorated designs were hand-painted and fired on this pair of glass hurricane shades. The design is very reminiscent of a design found on Pairpoint's Ambero shades. If anyone can help provide any insight or additional information about these shades, we would be grateful. Please contact us through our Message Center. Click the button below and you will be redirected there. Marion and Sandy Frost

For more than twenty years, documentation of this engraving pattern has eluded us. We find examples of this pattern on numerous Pairpoint shapes that appear to have been made from the latter part of the Middle Period (1930s) into the Gundersen-era (1938-1952); most of those examples are on shapes more closely associated with Gundersen. Every example of this pattern we have seen has been on an amethyst blank.
 
Yesterday we received a pattern identification inquiry from one of our website visitors. During our conversation, mention was made by our visitor about the bowtie feature being used by Hawkes. The “light bulb” went off in my head; I pulled out my Hawkes reference books and almost immediately found the pattern on a liquor set.
 
This pattern was designed and stone-engraved by Joseph Hahne, an engraver who worked for no other glass company than Hawkes. Mr. Hahne had been an engraver in Corning since WW1, but from the 1930s until his death in 1944, he only worked for Hawkes from his home studio. It is well documented that Hawkes acquired many of their blanks from Pairpoint. Given the fact that his employment with Hawkes spanned the Pairpoint to Gundersen transition years, it is easy to explain why so many Gundersen shapes are found with Hahne’s pattern.
 
To be consistent with my own standard, I think items found with this pattern should be attributed to Hawkes; they purchased the blanks from Pairpoint or Gundersen and finished them for sale. However, we are keeping the attribution, for identification purposes, within our Pairpoint system; in this case the shape will be the primary identifier for most collectors. Since no official name is known, we have chosen to describe this pattern as the HAHNE PATTERN.
 
Marion Frost
January 24, 2021

​      Some of you may already be aware of a special product line, introduced in the mid-teens, named Ambero. This product line was decorated by Pairpoint’s Lamp Department and, while unique unto itself, has visual similarities to Pairpoint’s Puffy and Reverse-Painted lamp shades. There was a nice variety of shapes within this line and several decorating patterns. Probably, the most commonly seen Ambero item is the Candle Lamp, having a very distinctive hurricane shade with amber ground and reverse-painted decoration and almost always found on a beautifully turned mahogany wooden base with brass trimmings. An example can be seen in the left-hand image. According to Mt. Washington & Pairpoint Glass, Volume Two, by Ken Wilson and Jane Spillman, Page 230, there were three different base shapes and three decorating patterns associated with the Ambero Candle Lamps. According to Wilson/Spillman, the patterns were #860 – Chestnut, #880 – Unidentified, and #887 – Grapes.

      Recently a friend of ours, John Stewart III, sent us an image of a very unusual Ambero Candle Lamp from his collection having a hurricane decoration of what appears to be a Dragonfly on a pinkish-lavender ground. We have never seen this decoration before and thought we would share it with our readers. We have to wonder if this design could be the unidentified #880 design we mentioned in the previous paragraph, or a special order. We would love to know. Let us hear from you.

Marion and Sandy Frost
October 7, 2020
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Pairpoint Lamp enthusiasts will recognize the lamp shown above as the rare line having a decorated glass base that matches the decorated glass shade. Most commonly seen, and probably the most popular, is the Seagull Design. The lamp is catalogued as C3069.

The lamp base to the left is what is in The Frost Collection. The lamp to the right is what it is supposed to be when it has its shade. Thus, the reason for this post.

If anyone out there has the shade without a base, we offer our base for sale. If anyone out there has the shade for sale, we would like the opportunity to purchase it. Either way is OK for us, but wouldn't it be nice to get each part back together again?

Just click the "Contact Us" button.

Sandy and Marion
​September 3, 2020

Usually we receive inquiries from our visitors seeking assistance in identifying Pairpoint glass. The roles are now reversed as we are seeking help from our visitors to help us identify the figurine below. If you can assist, please click the red button to the right which will take you to our Message Center.

This is terrific news for collectors of Pairpoint's Brilliant-era Cut Glass.

When Sandy and I started collecting Pairpoint glass, our interest was limited to items made between World War I and World War II, a period we call the "Middle Period." The ending of World War I coincided with the public's waning interest in Pairpoint's Brilliant-era cut glass. Except for some items that were clearly transitional, we paid scant attention to the beautiful cut glass that came before. As we gathered research material for our books, and ultimately this website, we acquired almost 300 Pairpoint catalog pages highlighting cut glass. For almost twenty years, these catalog pages have been in our archives.

We regularly receive inquiries from visitors to our site to assist with identifications of items they have. Mostly, these inquiries are for Pairpoint items dating from the Middle Period. However, of late, we have been receiving messages from a number of collectors having to do with the earlier cut glass patterns. As much as we hate to turn people away, we tell them that Pairpoint's cut glass is outside of our focus....in other words, we know slim to none, and Slim left on the morning train to Yuma.

Then, the light bulb flashed brightly...we realized we don't have to know anything because we had the catalog pages that speak for themselves. By applying the technique we used for our books and website, we extracted from each catalog page every unique pattern in those 300 pages. We came up with a total of 274 individual patterns that we cropped, enlarged, enhanced, and tweeked so that collectors could see them in a large format...and, most unique of all, IN ONE PLACE!

So...Please visit the NEW Tab titled "Pairpoint Cut Glass Patterns" located at the bottom of the menu listings. Many of the patterns shown were included on numerous catalog pages; we had to select those that gave the best singular appearance in the photo gallery. If anyone requests a copy of other views of any patterns, we will attempt to accommodate them.

Marion and Sandra Frost
The Frost Collection
​July 14, 2020

I want to caution anyone thinking of shipping one of Pairpoint's Large (12") Swans. This is the result of a very recent and sad experience. Although a Swan I shipped was packed extremely well (double-boxing, over-size box, bracing, etc), the postman at the point of delivery dropped the box as he tried to carry it on his shoulder. The sudden impact caused the Swan's head and neck to breakaway at the point of attachment to the bowl. Part of the bowl remained attached to the neck. It is my conclusion (from an engineering viewpoint) that the inertia during the fall combined with the length and heavy weight of the neck and head exposed the inherent weakness at the point where the heavy neck joined the much thinner bowl portion. Had the package fallen at a different angle, the outcome would likely have been different. Given the "perfect storm" nature of this event, I don't think any additional cushioning would have helped. Since we cannot control Murphy's Law, my advice is to avoid shipping the large swans if at all possible. I do not believe the smaller swans would be at risk due to the much lighter and shorter necks and heads.

Marion Frost
​March 14, 2020