Covered goblet

New Bremen Glass Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

German glassmaker John Frederick Amelung (1741/2–1798) opened a glasshouse in western Maryland in 1787, responding to America's desire for economic independence from Britain and the need to develop domestic manufactures. Within a few years, he was producing a variety of window glass, bottles, and tableware at his New Bremen factory. Some of Amelung's products feature elaborate engraved decoration in the Germanic style. This example is signed by the factory and is the earliest dated example known. Engraved with the arms of Bremen, Germany, and the inscription, "Old Bremen Success and the New Progress / New Bremen Glassmanufactory 1788 / North America State of Maryland," this goblet, or pokal, was found in Germany and may have been presented by Amelung to his German investors as a triumphant toast to his successful American glass factory.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art