Blenko Glass Company , located in Milton, West Virginia, is known for its artistic hand-blown glass.
Early history
The founder of Blenko Glass, William J. Blenko, was born in London, England in 1853 and worked in a glass factory in his youth. In 1893, he emigrated to Kokomo, Indiana in the US, where he established the first American factory to produce "antique" sheet glass for stained glass windows.
Blenko was forced to close his factory and returned to England in 1903 due to an economic downturn. He made a second attempt in 1909, this time in Point Marion, Pennsylvania. This venture quickly failed, as did a third attempt in Clarksburg, West Virginia. At this point, William Blenko found work at other established Ohio and West Virginia glass companies and purportedly received a job offer from Louis Comfort Tiffany.
In 1921, Blenko again attempted to start a sheet glass company, this time setting up in Milton, spurred on by news of low natural gas prices in the area, a major concern for glassblowers of the time that drew many prospective glassblowers to the area. His new company was originally christened Eureka Glass Company before a later name change to the current name. Until the arrival of his son, William H. Blenko in 1923, he had no employees, making and selling all of his glass himself.
Due to the Depression, which decimated the stained glass market, Blenko began to produce stemware and tableware after finding two expert glassblowers to work for the company in 1930. However, this did not mean the end of Blenko’s stained glass industry. Blenko Glass Company still produces hand-blown sheet glass for use in stained glass windows as well as other architectural glass.
Increasing popularity
The company's early successes include providing glass for the stained glass windows of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, helping the company earn national renown. Prior to 1946 Blenko's tableware output was largely functional and classical in form. Change came in 1947 with the decision to hire a full time design director, Winslow Anderson. The work of the company's first designers achieved much critical acclaim, including having several of Anderson's designs receive the Museum of Modern Art’s Good Design Awards in 1950, thereby ensconcing Blenko as a leader in modern American glass through the 1950s and 1960s. Blenko's historic period, the focus of collector and cultural interest, begins with Anderson in 1946 and includes the work of John Nickerson up to 1974. The second designer, Wayne Husted, did much to propel the company into the forefront of cutting-edge design, notably including pioneering the concept of "architectural scale" designs. Husted's successor in 1964, Joel Phillip Myers, a founder of the Studio Glass movement, further improved the company's importance and reputation by directly engaging Blenko with Studio Glass.
A new wave of public interest in Blenko began with the opening of the Blenko Museum in 2000, the first independent organization dedicated to research and education of the company's historical work. Aside from curating several year-long exhibitions of the company's work, the Blenko Museum worked with the Corning Museum of Glass in 2005 to include Blenko in a small but powerful survey exhibition organized by Tina Oldknow, Curator of Modern Glass, titled “Decades in Glass: the ‘50’s”. With strong interest from collectors and nationwide exposure on PBS television specials the company's reputation has grown to reach new audiences. “Blenko: Hearts of Glass” and “Retro Blenko; Three Designers of American Glass” , two Blenko documentaries, gave the company national exposure and lead to Blenko glassware being frequently featured in PBS pledge drives nationwide. Fourth-generation company President Richard Blenko often personally participated in these pledge drives, generating a sharp spike in publicity and positive effects on the company. Despite increased fuel costs and a rapidly changing industry and marketplace, the company has remained active.
Blenko’s special commissions include the Country Music Awards trophy and numerous sculptures by the contemporary Studio Glass artist Hank Adams, represented in many museums throughout the US.
The Blenko factory
The Blenko Glass Company building is a multi-building facility including a Visitor's Center, office building and manufacturing, shipping and warehouse facilities. The Visitor's Center's first floor contains items available for sale while the second floor is a showcase and museum for Blenko's historical work including a gallery of stained-glass windows.
Attached to the Visitor's Center is an observation area adjacent to where the glass is blown, allowing visitors to watch as the glass is formed and molded. Beside the center is also a “garden of glass”, a swath of land on the shore of a small man-made lake bordering the factory strewn with colorful glass shards which border a small trail that winds around part of the factory and adorn various structures that reside near the lake shore.
Recent Troubles
On January 31, 2009, Blenko ceased production of glass due to a judgment against them which meant a decision about the future could be made. The company discussed bankruptcy with their legal advisors but made the choice to resume limited production on March 9, 2009. Blenko is currently producing on a reduced production scale.
References
- Blenko Reference
- The Blenko Museum
- The Corning Museum of Glass
Further reading
- Blenko, Heir Apparent to the American Art Glass Legacy Published in The National American Glass Club Bulletin, Spring 2007, Issue 207
- Blenko; Uniquely American Modernist Glass Published in The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles, Vol. V No. 2, April 2004
- Blenko: American Beauty Published in Glass: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly, Number 92, Fall 2003
- Blenko: The Time is Now All About Glass Vol. I No.4, January 2004, published by the West Virginia Museum of American Glass
External links
- Blenko Glass Company
- Preserving the future of BLENKO GLASS
- Latest stuff from BLENKO and more
- Blenko Collectors Society &
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