McKee's Plain Patterns

By Gilbert Beeson

Pattern glass collector's have generally neglected the plain patterns. Such patterns were quite popular, however. Most glass factories produced several lines of plain ware and catalogue illustrations show that production was sustained over many years.

"Plain" refers to those patterns with mostly undecorated surfaces. Very often the patterns have distinctive handles,. stems. and spouts which make them idententifiable. They are designed to be decorated by etching or engraving. Often the factory offered them for sale plain or with a choice of etched designs

The recently surfaced 1882 McKee and Brothers factory catalogue contains two previously unidentified plain patterns, City and Windsor. A table set variation of the plain Berlin pattern also appeared in the catalogue.

The City pattern was known to Kamm and Revi from an 1882 McKee and Brothers catalogue price list Revi (1973. p 238) states"The pattern is unknown to date It was listed in their (McKee and Brothers) catalogue for this period, but no illustrations were shown '' Kamm (1948, Book 5. p 27) reports " 'City' was also a pattern of 1880, in clear glass only; it was not illustrated in advertisements or trade-catalogs; it came with two handles on the larger pieces "

City is also listed in an 1881 price list for "M'Kee & Brothers" reprinted by Stout (1972) in a Handbook for her comprehensive volume on McKee glass. All of the pieces of' City illustrated in the 1882 catalogue are contained in the I88I price list. but the price list contains six additional pieces They are a pickle, three sizes of dishes and two sizes of bowls. Since fewer pieces of City are illustrated in their catalogue, it is likely that this pattern was not selling as well and offerings in the pattern were being reduced.

The City (Catalogue p. 8) pattern is today's Crossed Disks pattern. It is not an especially well known pattern. but it has been illustrated and discussed by a few pattern glass authors (Hartung and Hinshaw, 1971; Kamm, Book 4. 1950; McCain 2000; Welker, 1985) The 1882 McKee and Brothers catalogue illustrates 12 pieces of City table set, celery, egg, 1/2 gallon pitcher, 3 small compotes (footed sauces), and 2 covered compotes. Hartung and Hinshaw ( 1971 ) report that a child's table set exists. Thus the pattern was produced in forms other than those found in the current catalogue.

Three mugs in graduated sizes are listed as the Berlin pattern but they have the distinctive City pattern features (Catalogue p.7). Apparently McKee marketed the mugs in this way as their 1881 price list (Stout,1972) does not carry City mugs but lists the Berlin mugs.

The predominant feature of the attractive City pattern is the squared handles and finials containing two circles with a Maltese cross in each circle. A "disk" is located at each juncture of the handles. The pieces also have wide, plain rims around the top and bottom of most pieces with the largest portion of the surface left plain. The spooner has a fern engraving (Engraving No. 13) demonstrating that engravings for this plain pattern were available. Welker (1985, p.252) illustrates an attractive covered Crossed Disks (City) sugar bowl with an engraved design.

A previously unlisted pattern, Windsor (Catalogue pp.4 and cover), is carried in the 1882 McKee and Brothers catalogue. Eleven pieces are illustrated - the table set, four sizes of covered compotes, two "hotel" goblets, and a flat dish. The catalogue states that the dish is made in four sizes.

The 1881 McKee price list (Stout,1972) does not include the Windsor pattern. Apparently the pattern was introduced in the 1882 catalogue.

The surface of the Windsor pieces are plain. The spooner has an elaborate floral engraving (No.7) again suggesting that the pattern could be ordered with engraved designs. The distinctive features of this pattern are the handles and finials. The rounded handles have a knop near the top of each handle. A design resembling a piece from a jig-saw puzzle covers the knop. The finials appear to be a threaded spool covered with a funnel-like cap.

If the covers are lost it is unlikely that the collector would recognize the uncovered bowls and dishes as Windsor. Similarly, the goblets would be difficult to distinguish from many similar plain utility goblets.

Stout (1972, p.422) pictures two Windsor goblets that look very much like those listed in the 1882 catalogue. These were among a large number of utilitarian stemware illustrated in an undated McKee Glass Company catalogue produced after McKee had relocated from Pittsburgh to Jeannette, Pennsylvania. It is possible that these plain goblets are a continuation of the Windsor pattern from the early 1880s.

Kamm (1943, Book 4, p.140) pictures a line drawing of a plain Windsor pitcher from an 1894 McKee catalogue. The pattern clearly is not the 1882 Windsor.

A third plain pattern illustrated in the 1882 McKee and Brothers catalogue is Handled Berlin (Catalogue p.7). It is a variation of the extensive, plain Berlin pattern carried in the 1880 McKee and Brothers catalogue (Stout,1972). The Handled Berlin variation is listed in the table set only. All four pieces have distinctive angular, cross-hatched molded handles and multiple fluted stems. The creamer has a shell-like spout. This Handled Berlin table set is markedly different from the regular Berlin table set (Catalogue p.10). A "Small Berlin" table set (Stout,1972, p. 67) that has fluted stems and a molded handle on the creamer only appears in the 1880 catalogue, but it bears little resemblance to the Handled Berlin table set.

A "Handled Berlin" table set is included in the 1881 McKee price list (Stout,1972) as well as a "Large Berlin." Thus this variation of the plain Berlin pattern was available by 1881 and possibly earlier.

Unlike the 1880 McKee and Brothers catalogue, the 1882 catalogue offers a substantial number of engravings presumably available to customers who ordered items in McKee's plain patterns. In addition to those already noted, the catalogue (p.4) specifically illustrates nine different "Styles of Engravings For Wines, Champagnes, & Goblets."

Hopefully, readers of the News Journal will possess examples of City, Windsor, and Handled Berlin. Photographs of these glass pieces will be a welcome addition to the EAPG literature.

The 1882 McKee & Brothers catalogue has been donated to the Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass. Microfiche copies will be available through interlibrary loan, and xeroxoed copies are available from The Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, ATTN: Interlibrary Loans, Five Museum Way, Corning NY 14830. For further information you may contact Barbara Strzopek, Fax: 607-974-8677, email: StrzepekBJ@cmog.org.

Hartung, Marion T., and lone E. Hinshaw. Patterns and Pinafores: Pressed Glass Toy Dishes. Des Moines, Iowa: Wallace-Homestead Co.,1971.

Kamm, Minnie Watson. A Fourth Two Hundred Pattern Glass Book. 2nd Edition. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Self-published, 1950.

Kamm, Minnie Watson. A Fifth Pattern Glass Book. 2nd Edition. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Self-published, 1948.

McCain, Mollie Helen. Field Guide to Pattern Glass. Paducah, Kentucky: Collector Books, 1988.

Revi, Albert Christian. American Pressed Glass and Figure Bottles.5th Printing. New York: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1973.

Stout, Sandra McPhee. The Complete Book of McKee Glass. North Kansas City, Missouri: Trojan Press, Inc., 1972.

Stout, Sandra McPhee. Handbook and Inventory Guide to The Complete Book of McKee Glass. North Kansas City, Missouri: Trojan Press, Inc., 1972.

Welker, John, and Elizabeth Welker. Pressed Glass in America: Encyclopedia of the First Hundred Years, 1825 - 1925. Ivyland, Pennsylvania: Antique Acres Press, 1985.