Glassware and Ceramics

Amassed by Anna Safley Houston, the antique glass and ceramics pieces have been termed by some experts to be the finest collections of such objects in the world. The rare collection of art glass includes Amberina, Plated Amberina, Pomona, Peach Blow, Burmese, Cameo, Steuben, Tiffany, Cranberry, Satin, Quezal and Durand, Cut Glass, as well as more than 600 patterns of Early American pressed glass. At one time Mrs. Houston reportedly owned 15,000 pitchers, the largest such collection in the world.

The Houston Museum also has an outstanding collection of lustreware and a large collection of the rarest examples of Staffordshire, Mettlach steins, Rockingham-Bennington pottery, rare bottles and flasks, original Toby jugs, Meissen and other fine specimens.

Following is a small sample of the Houston's treasures.

More than 75 rare steins in the collection of the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts include the work of Villeroy & Boch, which produced some of the world's finest beer containers at its factory in Mettlach.

Supposedly named for a notorious drinker of the eighteenth century, the first Toby jugs were used for beer. The Houston Museum is fortunate to possess a fine collection of Toby jugs and face mugs.

Miniature lamps, or "courting lamps," were used as night lights in the last half of the nineteenth century. They were made in every type of glass. The miniature lamp collection at the Houston is among the most complete in the world.

Art glass baskets were favorites of the Victorians. All types of art glass were used, along with lots of imagination. The Houston Museum features an extensive collection of these baskets.

A Houston Museum tour guide shows a visitor some of the museum's majolica, the brightly glazed earthenware pottery that delighted the Victorians after Henry Minton's re-introduction of it at the World Exposition in 1851. The cherry Pennsylvania cupboard holding the majolica features candle drawers, bun feet and spoon slots.

The Houston Museum's upstairs dining room features fine examples of early Staffordshire, flow blue and a complete set of Charles Dana Gibson Girl plates by Royal Doulton, as well as several handsome pieces of furniture. A unique collection of antique pickle castors is exhibited on window shelving. A photograph of museum founder Anna Safley Houston with her beloved dog hangs on the wall at left.