The 2016 Houston Antiques Show and Sale will feature special guest Kirk J. Nelson, director of the New Bedford Museum of Glass in New Bedford, Ma. Hours for the event will be Feb. 26-27 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Feb. 28 from noon-4 p.m. at Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. Admission is $10.
“I grew up in Manchester, Connecticut, which is the site of an 18th-century glass factory, Pitkin Glass Works. The ruins of it are still standing. My father was a collector of several things, including glass and antiques, and I began to collect as well; coins and stamps in the beginning,” Mr. Nelson said.
His interest in historic items continued, and as a sophomore in college, he drove to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, where he said he was amazed at the collection. “That really got me going,” he said. He became particularly interested in the development of the glass press and sandwich glass, and the fight over who owned the patents for pressing glass in the 1830s.
Mr. Nelson also began collecting books on glass, amassing more than 2,000 titles, which he has now donated to the New Bedford Museum of Glass, whose collection includes more than 10,000 books on glass topics.
At the Houston show, Mr. Nelson will give lectures on art glass of 1870-90s (the height of its production), and on New Bedford glass. He will also do limited periods of glass identification for show attendees who bring pieces in. (Note that this does not include valuation of items.)
About Kirk J. Nelson:
Mr. Nelson earned his master’s degree and certificate of museum studies from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture at the Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware.
His master's thesis examined the development of the American glass press during the 1820s and 1830s.
Mr. Nelson is an honorary fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass, former curator of glass at the Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, Ma. He has lectured and published extensively on a wide variety of glass-related subjects. Mr. Nelson is a past president of the National American Glass Club, and currently serves as newsletter editor for the Mt. Washington & Pairpoint Glass Society.
For more information, call 423-267-7176, or go to www.thehoustonmuseum.org.