'Parisian pattern' exhibit traces an innovation in cut glass

WHITE MILLS — The Dorflinger Glass Museum presents “John O’Connor’s Parisian Pattern, An Innovative Design,” a display of cut glass made by the C. Dorflinger and Sons glass factory in White Mills.
The Parisian pattern is still one of the most innovative designs in cut glass, with its extensive use of curved mitre cuts instead of straight lines, says museum curator Hank Loftus. Adding curved lines to a pattern led to many elaborate and beautiful designs.
O’Connor developed the cutting wheel capable of making such V-shaped grooves. As head of the cutting shop at the Dorflinger factory, John S. O’Connor patented the design in 1886.
The exhibit features a variety of shapes and forms cut in this extraordinary way. Items from the museum’s collection are supplemented with loans from private collections. Visitors can compare pieces to see how cutters adapted a pattern to fit different-shaped glass blanks. The center piece of the exhibit is the original patentdocument issued to O’Connor in 1886.

Glassmaker Christian Dorflinger’s first major success came in the 1850s with his design for a kerosene lamp chimney that he manufactured in his glass factory in Brooklyn. These chimneys and other lighting-related products were made of a hard, durable glass that would be used every day.
The overwhelming growth of the business led to Dorflinger’s retirement to northeastern Pennsylvania. Instead of retiring, he built a factory along the Delaware & Hudson Canal in White Mills, where he specialized in making high-quality lead crystal glassware. By the 1880s, the White Mills factory was established.
The Dorflinger Glass Museum is located in Christian Dorflinger'a former home, set in the middle of the 600-acre Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary. The museum exhibits the largest collection of Dorflinger glass in the United States.
Additional exhibits show glass made by other Wayne County glass factories. The sanctuary is also home to the Wildflower Music Festival, a series of concerts held in a natural amphitheater.
The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. It is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Open dates and hours have also been set for the restored 1867 Glassworker’s House and the 1850 Lock Tender’s House operated by the museum. The worker’s house is about one-half mile away from the museum, on Charles Street, in the village of White Mills. The Lock House is located at the end of Lock St. across from the 1911 White Mills Fire House.
The open dates for these historic houses are May 28-29, July 2-3, Aug. 13-14, Sept. 3-4, and Oct. 8-9, from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission to the historic buildings is free. Special tours for groups of 15 may be scheduled by calling the museum.
For more information call 570-253-1185 or visit dorflinger.org.