IPBA English Cameo Glass Perfume Bottles by Barbara Miller, Gayle Syers and Victor Weinstein

So much more. That is the phrase that continues to describe the awe Gayle, Vic and I feel after two years of working on the book “English Cameo Glass Perfume Bottles”.  More fabulous than we ever imagined. More shapes, sizes and colors than we expected. And then there are the designs carved into the bottles, designs which were more varied than we realized.  English Cameo Glass Perfume Bottles is our book which offers more knowledge, more examples and more insight into their manufacture. In the first chapter, we have described the artistic and manufacturing processes of English cameo glass with specific insights for perfume bottles. Another chapter describes additional techniques which were used in cameo glass.

Subsequent chapters cover the various bottle shapes — animal shaped, cylindrical, disc, oval, pear, spherical, square, teardrop and other shapes. There are also chapters on bottles with figural and scenic designs; and bottles where the stoppers are carved en suite. One bottle even has the artists’ signature carved into it! Another chapter shows cameo bottles of unusual shapes and designs. Bottles in their original presentation boxes are shown as well as a chapter on the various signatures of glass houses. English cameo glass perfume bottles were mostly created during the last decades of the nineteenth century. Time and handling have not always been kind to these pieces. Because we believe that a bottle is worthy even if it is not perfect, the Flaws, Mistakes, Repairs chapter gives need information to help every buyer.

We are truly grateful to the photographs which many members, museums and auction houses contributed to our efforts. Their additions expanded our own collections to where we show over 350 individual bottles and more than 780 photographs.

Gayle, Vic and I have learned so much more about these fascinating bottles. But what we came away with is that English cameo glass perfume bottles are so much more fabulous than we ever envisioned!