Glassware Galore: Hobnail and Milk Glass

I love the display of beautful glassware on exposed shelving. Image from Domino.

One of my favorite things to shop for is glassware. Don't ask me why, but I'm always drawn to pretty cups of all sizes and shapes. Whether I am in Anthropologie or a thrift store, I'm always trolling for the next in a long line of lovely finds.

Hobnail juice glasses, 8.00 per glass, at Anthropologie.

One thing I am always drawn to, it seems, is hobnail. Even better, a colored hobnail. The glass is inspired by the hobnail studs sometimes used on boot soles. It can be a pattern created by blowing a glass vessel into a mold, or it can be achieved by pressing the glass into a mold.

Eddie Ross makes frequent use of milk glass in his infamous Manhattan apartment. Milk glass footed bowl, Eddie Ross at Etsy.

Another weakness is milk glass - those of you who have ever opened an issue of Martha Stewart living can see her affinity for it, and it's one I share. The opaque glass looks like porcelain and is produced by the effect of tin-oxide.

In the offices of Flower Films, Ruthie Sommers used a bold teal that works beautifully with a mixed white and milk glass display. Image from Domino.

Often you will find the two overlap - it's not odd to find a hobnail milkglass lamp floating around Goodwill, cast aways from an estate sale. The true statement is made when a collection is gathered and cast against a dark background - perhaps in exposed cabinetry or a glassed armoire.