Peter Glass (1824-1901)
Twenty-year-old Peter Glass emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1844, having already served an apprenticeship in cabinetmaking. While working in a piano factory in Massachusetts applying veneer to the tops of piano keys, Glass devoted his spare time and creativity to making elaborate marquetry furniture. His work won prizes in competitions, including the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association exhibition and the 28th annual fair of the American Institute of New York. In 1857 Glass moved his family to a farm near the town of Scott in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. He applied himself to tending his land on the western frontier, but continued to develop his skill in marquetry.

Ambition led the Wisconsin craftsman to tackle monumental projects and venture into self-promotional marketing. In 1864, Glass spent six months designing and creating a large, tilt-top center table with over 20,000 pieces of wood composing marquetry portraits of political and military heroes and intricate floral and geometric displays. This table is now owned by the Governor’s Mansion of Illinois and seen in this exhibition. Glass displayed this piece and its companion worktable in Milwaukee and Chicago for 25 cents admission before sending the works to their intended recipients, President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln (unfortunately Lincoln was assassinated before the pieces arrived). Though described in The Chicago Tribune as "a Wisconsin backwoods man," Glass was both a sophisticated and prolific furniture maker. Three other heavily ornamented center tables survive, including one that is currently on view at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Late in his life, Glass made several gifts for family members, including numerous small boxes and eight worktables (three of which are seen in this gallery).