“Let Us Have Peace. U. S. Grant" Commemorative Glass Bowl, by Gillinder & Sons, ca. 1880s (clear)

Presented is a commemorative glass bowl for President Ulysses S. Grant. This clear glass bowl was created by Gillinder & Sons, in the 1880s. It was originally issued in a set of five bowls, identical in pattern but varying in glass colors. The original colors were yellow, blue, apple green, amber, and clear. The yellow and the apple green bowls were crafted of uranium glass. 

At the center of this clear glass bowl is a head and shoulders portrait of Grant. Encircling his portrait is the text “Born April 27 1822 / Died July 23 1885.” The bowl is stamped “Let Us Have Peace / U. S. Grant” along the top and bottom outer rim, atop a curved maple leaf border design. When Grant was nominated in 1868 as the Republican candidate for President, the last words of his written acceptance of the nomination were, "Let Us Have Peace.” This became his campaign slogan, and signaled his desire to move past the violence of the Civil War and Reconstruction, while promoting reconciliation, stability, and the protection of civil rights. 

Pressed glassware depicting a president were “successful because companies created and marketed their wares at two key times: during a presidential campaign or election year, and when a president died. Campaigns, elections, and funerals were events that brought people together and glass was a way to memorialize the event and give the parlor room in the home a place in venerating America’s national heroes” (Grimminger, 2018). These objects served to elevate everyday items, like bread plates and glasses, into "reliquary" status, allowing citizens to feel a closer connection to a leader in the immediate aftermath of their death.

Gillinder & Sons was established in Philadelphia 1861 by William Gillinder under the original name Franklin Flint Works. In 1867, when his sons James and Frederic joined the enterprise, the firm was renamed Gillinder & Sons. The company gained national recognition in 1876 during the American Centennial Exhibition, where it constructed a full working glass factory on the fairgrounds. There, visitors could observe the glassmaking process firsthand and purchase commemorative souvenirs, an innovative marketing effort that endeared the firm to the public. In the early twentieth century, the business relocated to Port Jervis, New York, and operated under the name Gillinder Brothers. The Port Jervis factory remains in operation today as Gillinder Glass, continuing the family’s long-standing glassmaking tradition.

CONDITION:

Fine condition. Pressed glass bowl, with overlapping maple leaf border, which forms a serrated edge. No chips or scratches. Yellow uranium vaseline glass. 

Dimensions: 10 7/16" Dia. x 1 5/16" H.

REFERENCES: 

“Gillinder and Sons.” The MFAH Collections. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

Grimminger, Daniel Jay, Ph.D. “Presidential Glass.” Journal of Antiques & Collectibles, July 21, 2018.

Marsh, Tracy H. The American Story Recorded in Glass: Chronologically Arranged. Minneapolis: Tracy H. Marsh, 1962. pp. 228–229.