Covered goblet (pokal)

Owing to technical challenges and the expense of glassmaking, most window and table glass was imported from England. In 1784, however, Amelung, German entrepreneur and glassmaker, arrived in Maryland with skilled workmen, technical expertise, and financial backing from merchants in Bremen, Germany. For the next decade, Amelung's New Bremen factory--perhaps the largest industrial enterprise in the country--produced such beautiful and ambitious glass objects as this goblet made for a Pennsylvania church. Despite its artistic success, New Bremen was forced into bankruptcy, undermined by the vast influx of inexpensive, English glass.