Victor Durand
Victor Durand Jr. was born in Baccarat, France, in 1870. Like his father, grandfather and perhaps even his great-grandfather, he once worked in the world-renowned glass factory of the Cristalleries de Baccarat in Baccarat, France. He was only twelve or thirteen at the time, and his association with this factory was brief, perhaps only a year or two. At age fourteen, he left France to join his father at Whitall Tatum and Company in Millville, New Jersey, where his father had already been working for a year. The younger Durand worked at this company for several years until he went to work at a nearby glassworks, the Wheaton Glass Company, also in Millville, where he learned additional aspects of glassmaking, including glassblowing. Subsequently, he worked at other glassworks in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Glassboro (New Jersey) and even in Canada.
With the acquisition in 1897 of the lease of a Vineland, New Jersey, glassworks named the Vineland Glass Manufacturing Company, Victor Durand Jr. and his father were able to establish a factory of their own, which they named the Vineland Flint Glass Works. Since the former factory had manufactured what is called in the trade “greenware” or green glass – common bottles and jars – the Durands had to convert the original furnace to one for flint glass (heavy brilliant glass containing lead oxide and having a high refractive index). At first, the company gained a reputation as a manufacturer of hand blown tubing, lamp chimneys, beer and whiskey bottles, and medicine bottles. Around 1915, additional product lines were added, including opal and colored glass bathroom fixtures, thermos bottle blanks, and lastly, scientific and laboratory glassware. By 1920, Victor Durand Jr. became sole proprietor of the Vineland Flint Glass Works, which, incidentally, became the largest individually owned glass factory in the country.
Victor Durand Jr., however, was not content simply to produce commercial glassware. He also harbored a desire to establish a “fancy shop” or art glass shop that would manufacture artistic glassware similar to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Favrile glass, Frederick Carder’s Aurene glass, and Quezal art glass, which was made by the Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company in Maspeth, Queens. In fact, as early as October 15, 1921, Durand wrote to Martin Bach Jr., who had learned the formulas for mixing glass from his father at the Quezal glassworks, and invited him to discuss the possibility of establishing an art glass shop in Vineland.
Durand’s dream to create a line of beautiful and artistic glassware was certainly fulfilled and affirmed when in 1926, Durand Art Glass was awarded a medal of honor at the Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia.
SOURCE - https://www.doyle.com/story/durand-art-glass--a-dream-fulfilled/ (Sept, 2025)
