Six Needle Etched Cut Glass 11 oz Tumblers Sunflower Bryce?

For one price is this set of six 11 oz water, lemonade, or iced tea tumblers. They are hand blown and thin-walled glass almost 5 1/2 inches tall (14 cm) and probably date to the 1920s when the needle etch technique was most widely used. Needle etched glass was an acid etching technique typically applied to thin blown glass during this period. In the needle etching process, a glass blank was coated with wax. A skilled setter used a complex machine that would carve a repeating pattern in the glass. The glass was set in place and slowly rotated while the machines needle traced the pattern into the wax. Once the pattern was complete, a second worker repaired any spots where the wax coating had been damaged by handling, then the piece was placed in an acid dip to create the pattern. Although a lot of hand craftsmanship went into these pieces, needle etch was sold as an alternative to hand cut brilliant lead crystal, which generally only the wealthy could afford. The 1930s Depression, and the introduction of inexpensive mass produced colored pressed "Depression" glass eliminated the production of needle etch.

Fostoria and Bryce were important makers of this type of glass, but there were many others, and I was not able to identify this pattern. We have other types of pieces (goblets, bowls) in this pattern on our web store.

In these tumblers, the bases were also panel cut, so technically these are cut and etched pieces. The six have no cracks, chips, scratches, or repairs, and only slight evidence of wear, most noticeable on the base. Because they are hand made, needle etch pieces show variation, and in these vary very slightly in thickness. Two rims feel a little bumpy in spots, but these are irregularities in the glass, not chips. Needle etch pieces often have specks of debris in the glass, but these have few particles or bubbles.