Feathered, or combed, decoration in glass can be traced to ancient Egyptian vessels. The Peacock Feather had its origins in ancient times. These designs, which evolved as Durand hallmarks, continued to be produced even after Durand Art Glass had assumed its own distinctive style. Two patterns which illustrate this blend are the Peacock Feather and the coiled King Tut.
Soon the company’s products showed a blending of distinctive Durand characteristics with the earlier Quezal designs. The period of purely imitative work was brief. An examination of this copy reveals Bach’s markings next to many of the designs that were reissued by Durand. Martin Bach had brought with him his own office copy of the Quezal catalog. The shapes and patterns of these early pieces can readily be compared to those found in items in the original Quezal catalogs. The key group – known as the “fancy shop” and composed entirely of former Quezal employees – consisted of Percy and Harry Britton, William Weidebine, and Emil Larson.Īt first, the most popular designs produced at Quezal were copied and sold as Durand products. Within a month he had contacted several of his former Quezal workers, convincing them to come to southern New Jersey. In December of 1924, Martin Bach arrived in Vineland to establish the Durand Art Glass shop. After several attempts at reorganization failed to save the company, its workers dispersed to work for other factories.
When the senior Bach died in 1924, his son took over the firm, then experiencing serious financial difficulties. The two men called this new company the Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company. After leaving Tiffany’s employ, the elder Bach had organized his own company with Thomas Johnson in 1901. was the son of a former worker in the glass formula department of Tiffany Furnaces. Durand began corresponding with Martin Bach Jr., offering him employment if he would come to Vineland and help establish the art glass division. His cherished plan now a possibility, in October of 1924 Mr. Once he had achieved financial success with his Vineland Flint Glass Works, he was able to pursue his dream of producing such glass. At the time, it was considered one of the most successful privately owned glass companies in the country.īorn in Baccarat, France, Victor Durand as a youth worked in the town’s famous glass factory, a fact which certainly influenced his later decision to produce decorative art glass. By 1920 the company had expanded into four separate divisions producing thermos liners, towel bars, tubing, light bulbs, and x-ray bulbs. and his father founded the Vineland Flint Glass Works in 1897 in Vineland, New Jersey, in order to manufacture chemical and scientific glassware.
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