Cut and Engraved Glass

Although the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company is well noted for its pressed wares made in a myriad of colors, the Company also maintained a cutting shop throughout its 63 year existence. Skilled craftsmen including Theodore Kern, Carl Mattoni, Eugene Perrote, Joseph Henry Lapham, and George Franklin Lapham, produced a variety of engraved and cut glass. The Sandwich Glass Museum is fortunate to have in its collection examples of their work along with pieces with ties to the local community. Some of these objects will be presented over the next few months with focus on; either the cutter or the recipient, of these often overlooked examples of Sandwich glass.

Dorothy Hogan-Schofield
Curator of Collection

Daniel Franklin Chessman Presentation Goblet

Made at the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company. 1877

Daniel Franklin Chessman (1821-1920) was a well-respected member of the Sandwich community. Born in Hallowell, Maine, he attended school in Hyannis, Massachusetts, where his father, Reverend Daniel Chessman, was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hyannis. He taught school in Mashpee, Vineyard Haven, and later in Sandwich at District School No. 5 located in the Spring Hill area of Sandwich. Upon his retirement in 1877, his pupils presented Mr. Chessman with this goblet to commemorate the event.

During his retirement he enjoyed farming as well as politics. He was one of the founders of the local Republican Party and later was a member of the Prohibition Party and ran for political office on a number of occasions.  He took his political responsibilities seriously for upon his death in 1920 at the age of 98, a local newspaper reported that Mr. Chessman had participated in 78 state elections and 19 presidential elections.

The blown goblet, with its applied stem and foot, was made and engraved at the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company. This style of goblet, called “Collomore”, was pictured in the Company's’ catalog of the 1870s. The body of the goblet was engraved  “D. F. Chessman/From/His Pupils/Dist. No. 5” within elaborately engraved open wreaths above and below the inscription and with scattered stars around the bowl. Two engraved bands also decorate the base of the foot.

Chessman Goblet

Height: 6”   Diameter: 3”

Gift of Jane Martin Shaw, John Shaw, and Alexandra S. Woodworth
in memory of their father, Milton S. Shaw   1992.34

Daniel F. Chessman (1821-1920)

Museum Purchase   1995.28.1

Postcard of the Chessman Home located in Spring Hill, Sandwich

Museum Purchase   1995.28.1

Daniel F. Chessman at age 98

Photograph that appeared in the Barnstable Patriot, November 24, 1919

Drawing of the Chessman Goblet executed by Albert E. Shaw on July 19, 1949 with the following notation:  “At the left an outline of the goblet, on the right a copy of the engraving on the goblet, below part of the engraving on the underside of foot. This engraving is rather elaborate. It is shown as it appears when looking through the foot from above.