It may be a small museum - only about a thousand square feet in size - but it packs a potent punch in its display of Blenko's decorative ware lines of glass running from 1930 to the present

The Blenko Museum of Seattle, located within the 222 Westlake Antique Mall in Seattle, Washington, opened two years ago, featuring examples of items designed by all seven of the Blenko Company's resident designers.

"I think the popularity of Blenko glass is mainly due to the rich pure colors, and the modern and architectural forms," said Bill Agle, the museum's curator and manager of the antique mall. "Plus there is a general increase in interest in glass as art, brought about by the Studio Art Glass Movement and the status that Dale Chihuly has brought to the art form."

The founder of the glass company, William J. Blenko came to America in the late 1890's and established his first plant in Kokomo, Indiana, where he produced sheet stained glass for windows. By 1921, Blenko, then 57, opened a plant in Milton , West Virginia where it still operates, today. The company nearly faltered during the Great Depression of the 1930's when church building stopped and the stained glass market was weak. But the company continued to create glass, and ultimately survived.

Blenko's first decorative glass line was manufactured and put on the market in 1930, and today the company still produces both stained glass and decorative ware lines.

"The Blenko Museum is my personal project," Agle pointed out. "I conceived the idea and opened the museum and serve as the chief organizer and curator." The museum's two-day grand opening two years ago drew visitors from across the country, as well as from the West Coast. Agle noted that on a day-to-day basis, the majority of museum visitors are regional, although he still gets a fair number of visitors from other states.

Agle amassed the museum's collection over a period of 20 years, with the majority of the items in each of its installations coming from this collection. The museum showcases Blenko's early dinnerware and barware, bowls, decanters, small shot glasses, vases and large floor decanters, some as tall as 46 inches.

The Blenko Museum of Seattle's first installation, "Milton on the Mud," was an overview of the company's decorative wares from 1930 to the present," Agle said.

The second and current installation, "Dia de Los Blenko, A Don Shepherd Retrospective," is a memorial retrospective of items designed by Don Shepherd over the 13 years he worked for the company, from 1975 through 1988.

"The Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), was used as a framework for the exhibit with Mexican skeleton toys mixed with the glass items throughout the museum," Agle noted.

"Dia de Los Blenko" closed May 1 and will be followed by "Studio Sensibility and Specialty Lines," which will open June 13. The Studio Sensibility installation is designed to be part of the Gallery Hop, sponsored by the Glass Art Society, which holds its international convention in Seattle June 12 to 15.

He said the show will represent all seven of Blenko's resident designers and also will feature examples of the company's many specialty lines, which are very popular with collectors.

Agle pointed out that his roles as museum curator and antique mall manager serve to complement each other rather than conflict.

"Being here five days a week allows me to personally take people through the museum and answer any questions," he said. "Plus, we have more vintage Blenko glass for sale here than in any other antique mall on the West Coast. The visitors to the museum can have a field day shopping, and benefit from my expertise while choosing their purchases."

"Probably the most unusual piece in the museum's collection, is a five and one-half-inch tall high-heel bowl, catalogued as an asymmetrical sculptured form and designed to be used to hold fruit or flowers," Agle said.

"The most expensive piece that has been sold," Agle said, "was a Wayne Husted architectural floor decanter, design #588, that went for $1,500."

What are collectors seeking today?

"Current Blenko collectors are most interested in pieces produced during the 1950's and 1960's," Agle said, "especially focusing on the designs of Wayne Husted. Large floor decanters, Specialty Line items, and certain rare colors such and Persian, Rose, and Plum , are all highly collectible."

Agle believes that the availability of Blenko glass is decreasing as pieces become part of collections and values have skyrocketed over the last five years.

"Many pieces that sold for under $100 five to ten years ago are now going for over $1,000," he pointed out. "And many rare and desirable pieces have been broken or lost, and now are gone."

Agle noted that few large pieces were made, and most Specialty Lines were each produced for only one year. "Since the company sold items inexpensively, people tended not to think in terms of future values," he added.

Agle said there are no plans at present to expand the physical area of the museum; however, he is working on expanding its process of education about and preservation of Blenko glass. In addition, he is starting to work on obtaining nonprofit status for the museum.