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Christmas Kugels
Kugel is the name of heavy glass Christmas tree ornaments made in Germany from as early as 1840 until World War I. The word kugel means round ball in German, and the first kugel ornaments were smooth-surface balls.
Around 1880, kugels began to appear in figural shapes such as grape clusters, apples, pears, pinecones, berries, teardrops, and ribbed balls. Kugels were produced by blowing glass into a mold, after which the kugel was snapped off the blowing iron, leaving a neck, or hole, in the kugel. The neck was ground almost flat to accept a decorative brass cap, which fit snugly down on the ornament and concealed the hole. Caps were attached with a cap wire with arms that spread out inside the kugel. Hanging rings were then usually fastened to the cap wire.
Kugel brass caps may be embossed with an ornamental design. Original kugels are generally lined inside with mirror silver. The most frequent outside colors are red, cobalt, blue, green, gold, silver, and amethyst.
Around 1880, kugels began to appear in figural shapes such as grape clusters, apples, pears, pinecones, berries, teardrops, and ribbed balls. Kugels were produced by blowing glass into a mold, after which the kugel was snapped off the blowing iron, leaving a neck, or hole, in the kugel. The neck was ground almost flat to accept a decorative brass cap, which fit snugly down on the ornament and concealed the hole. Caps were attached with a cap wire with arms that spread out inside the kugel. Hanging rings were then usually fastened to the cap wire.
Kugel brass caps may be embossed with an ornamental design. Original kugels are generally lined inside with mirror silver. The most frequent outside colors are red, cobalt, blue, green, gold, silver, and amethyst.
Latest page update: made by jsonderg
, Apr 19 2007, 12:52 PM EDT
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