The Barnes Museum Pressed Glass Goblet Collection 

Twinkling in the window of the conservatory of The Barnes Museum in Southington, Connecticut is a sea of unique pressed glass goblets, each one not quite like the other. When Bradley Barnes (b.1883) died in 1973 he bequeathed the contents of his home, the sturdy 1836 homestead itself, and the grounds it is thereon to the Town of Southington with the vision of it being preserved as a museum and library. The historic homestead of Bradley Barnes, the grandson of Southington’s once wealthiest man and largest landowner Amon Bradley, is not lacking in contents for us to preserve. During the unique time in history he was alive, Bradley accumulated numerous relics representative of every period in American history since his birth. 

The Barnes Museum is the proud recipient of a grant from the Early American Pattern Glass Society. This grant established the Bradley Barnes Early American Pattern Glass Fellowship. This fellowship provides funding for a research position at the museum whose aim will be identifying and documenting the historic 1,100 glass goblets within the museum's collection. Learn more about this year's fellowship recipient below. 

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Recent Publications

Curator Christina Volpe wrote a brief article in the Newsletter of the National American Glass Club detailing the history of how the goblet collection came to be. To read the full article and the rest of the summer edition of the newsletter visit this page.