Koh-I-Noor American Cut Glass Catalog
ACGA Reproduction Catalogs from Cut Glass Manufacturers
This “Koh-I-Noor American Cut Glass” catalog reprint was previously printed in 1998 and offered for sale by Warren and Teddie Biden after it was made available from the personal archive of Martha Louise Swan. It is a smaller catalog which shows seventeen designs with many different shapes.
Brief notes in Revi’s Encyclopedia of American Cut & Engraved Glass indicate that Richard Murr was issued the Koh-I-Noor trademark in 1906, while living in San Francisco. Murr apparently moved to Chicago by 1907, just after the great earthquake, and established a storefront for the Murr Import Company at 56 Fifth Avene which retailed Koh-I-Noor glass.
More recent research by Donald Quant, reported in The Hobstar of November 2025 (8050), confirms that the correct (registered) company name is Murr Import Company. Quant’s research also clarified that Murr apparently did not operate a cutting shop. Instead, he relied on other manufacturing companies to supply cut glass which he retailed. According to Quant, at least 80% of the glass shown in the catalog was produced by the Heinz Brothers cut glass factory in St. Charles, Illinois. The Clifton and Victor designs that were produced by Heinz Brothers show an unusual motif grouping with parallel notched prism bars projecting away from a small hobstar that is also seen in designs by the H.C. Fry Glass Company.
It now appears probable that the catalog was produced in Chicago about 1907 with artwork by the Stadler Photographing Company. No period advertisements have been found, and few surviving examples of Murr’s Koh-I-Noor glass have been noted in auction records, although three examples were shown in Revi’s book.
Murr was granted one U.S. design patent (39,118) in early 1908, with a drawing shown here, that is usually referenced as the “Christmas Bell” design. It was not shown in the catalog. Another more unusual National design integrated a simplified U.S. flag (page 21), and it appears that Murr also developed a Heart design with fine hobnail filling that is distinct from those produced by other companies.
Gratitude again goes to Teddie Biden for making this interesting material available.
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