The popular term “Snake-skin” refers to the resemblance of the stippled back ground in early Sandwich glass to the skin of a snake. I like the term Lace glass better as it more clearly conveys the delicacy of treatment. There was a later glass produced by the Sandwich works in 1875 in order to meet the popular demand at less expense. This might well be called Snake-skin because the stippling is so merged that the term applies to it much more than to the fine early specimen. This glass was made in machine cut molds. There was more background than detail and the pieces were sold in cheap sets.
Throughout this work the author has in every instance purposely omitted the question of values. The value of old things is not intrinsic. It is governed by the demand and not by set prices. Inestimable harm has been done unintentionally by popular magazine writers who have quoted prices forgetting that those who go far afield may pay to-day a large price for a piece that to-morrow they find for a song, thus evening up the collecting average. The mere quotation of a price means nothing to the real collector but it immediately plants in the minds of the uninitiated who do not discriminate between their treasures the idea that they can get the amount quoted and more next time and so the practice of “hoarding” and “pyramiding” is established. It begins with the farmer’s wife and does not stop with the dealer and collector until the modest collector becomes discouraged and his interest dies. To the very few who understand the joy of exchanging duplicate specimens regardless of value and of taking a small profit over what they pay thus enabling them to complete their collections in the spirit of olden days this book is dedicated.
As the reproduction of blown glass is easier than pressed there is a certain joy in owning fine specimens of the latter. The field is too broad and the designs too intricate to tempt the modern mold maker. The machine product is too obviously regular and lacks the silvery brightness produced in old pressed glass by the use of barytes and the artistic technique of the hand made mold.
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In the days when our forefathers considered it quite correct to pour tea from the cup into the saucer and drink it from the latter the problem still remained of an unsightly ring upon the linen. Thus the cup plate was evolved in the first place from a purely utilitarian standpoint. It took the place of the modern coaster but later became a subject for “table talk” in the form of political and social reform. The thought and sentiment of the times were worked into the dainty molds and the resulting cup-plates became works of art.