Representative objects and advertisements from each decade will be on view to trace the evolution of the Pyrex brand. Particular highlights include:
- The first 12 Pyrex products introduced to the consumer market in 1915, including: covered casserole dishes, pie plates, shirred egg dishes, custard cups, loaf pans, au gratin dishes, and oval baking dishes.
- Durable military mess ware developed by Corning Glass Works in 1940s, which evolved into Pyrex opalware after World War II.
- Representative pieces of nearly 150 Pyrex opalware patterns including the Terra and Verde patterns from the 1960s.
- Pyrex measuring cups, including the 1980s redesign which introduced a new handle that allowed measuring cups of various sizes to be stacked inside one another.
- A large archive of Pyrex advertisements, from its origins through the 1980s, incorporating themes such as weddings, wartime (specifically WWII), Christmas, intergenerational, and historical events. One ad depicts how the moon landing inspired the Horizon Blue pattern.
- Original design drawings, correspondence, and other ephemera related to Pyrex design and marketing.
"Because our comprehensive collection of glass tells the story of the development of this material from ancient to contemporary times, the Museum is uniquely qualified to tell and contextualize the story of Pyrex and its origins in Corning," said Karol Wight, executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass. "Like many of the objects in our collection, Pyrex was made using the experimental and cutting-edge technology of its era. It also reflected the decorative taste of its time. We look forward to exploring the dual impact of Pyrex products as both revolutionary home tools and as today’s objects of nostalgia."
The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive, dedicated website, Pyrex Potluck pyrex.cmog.org, which will feature the Museum's Pyrex holdings of more than 2,000 objects, sortable by pattern and/or date. The website will host a database for Pyrex research and provide a place for enthusiasts to share their own stories, images, and recipes with others. Features will include digitized advertisements, articles and clips of oral histories conducted by the staff of the Museum’s Rakow Research Library, who have gathered personal perspectives from designers, engineers, and marketing staff who worked with Pyrex products.
The website is sponsored by leading global housewares manufacturer, World Kitchen, which has been a proud steward of the Pyrex® brand for 16 years. For more information, visit www.worldkitchen.com.
The exhibition will be on view in the Museum’s Rakow Library until March 17, 2016. It is co-curated by Kelley Elliott, assistant curator of modern and contemporary glass; Aprille Nace, associate librarian for public services; Regan Brumagen, public services librarian; and Emily Davis, Collections Management Assistant. For a more detailed synopsis of the exhibition, read A Century of Pyrex.
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