author
Deming Jarves
1790–1869
A driving force in early American glassmaking, he helped turn a young industry into a lasting one. Best known for founding major Massachusetts glassworks, he is often remembered for making fine and pressed glass more widely available in the United States.
1 Audiobook
Reminiscences of Glass-making
by Deming Jarves
About the author
Born in Boston in 1790, Deming Jarves became one of the key builders of the American glass industry during the first half of the 19th century. Sources describe him as an American glass manufacturer in Massachusetts, and he is especially associated with the growth of domestic production at a time when the United States was still developing its own industrial base.
Jarves helped found the New England Glass Company and later established the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company in Sandwich, Massachusetts. He is frequently linked with the rise of pressed glass in America, which helped bring decorative glassware to a broader public rather than limiting it to luxury buyers.
He also left behind a firsthand account of the trade in Reminiscences of Glass-Making, which adds to his importance not just as an industrial entrepreneur but as a witness to the craft and business of glassmaking in his era. He died in 1869, but his name remains closely tied to the early history of American manufacturing.