What is the Blenko Registry?

The purpose of the Blenko Registry is to assist with authentication and identification while establishing a provenance for important designs. Provenance is the recorded history of ownership of an item and is a primary device for establishing authenticity and value in all types of items, most notably art.

The market for Historic period Blenko is relatively new, dating in earnest to the mid 1990's. Typically, as any given item becomes more popular and valuable, be it Blenko, Tiffany or the work of Picasso, factors such as provenance become increasingly important in establishing authenticity and value. This is particularly true when values become significant enough to make an item vulnerable to reproduction and forgery. Many glass markets have recently become destabilized or reduced due to forgery, for instance Galle and Tiffany. As forgeries become increasingly sophisticated and virtually impossible to distinguish from originals, provenance becomes a primary method of authentication.

In the interests of alleviating this problem, the Blenko Museum has established the Blenko Registry, which began with the inventorying of our own collection and numerous significant private collections. The Blenko Registry currently documents over 1500 Historic Period Blenko items.

This first of its kind endeavor is a tribute to the Blenko Museum's reputation as both the first and most scholarly organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Blenko.

Simply email or mail us a photo of your item(s) - see submission guidelines below - and we will respond to you with a unique serial number authenticating your Historic Period Blenko design. When selling or insuring your documented item you may provide this number to the interested party who may contact us for verification of authenticity. Information is otherwise kept confidential and released only at the request of the current owner.

•  Only Historic Period (1947-74) designs are eligible.

•  Due to resource limitations, of the approximately 1,400 original Historic Period designs some will not be eligible for inclusion in the Blenko Registry (ex: glasses, cast designs, and common items in production more than 10 years).

•  If submitting multiple items at one time, we recommend beginning the process by emailing us group photos or a list of design numbers.

•  Final registration requires 1 item per photograph and one photograph of each item. Each item should be photographed against a solid background (preferably white or a light color) and in full light (daylight is best) – please do not backlight or underlight. Please format photos as jpg documents, no larger than 500KB each

•  supply the dimensions of each item: height from base to tallest point, width (widest point) or diameter, and if applicable the length. The accuracy of your measurements to within 1/4 of an inch is important.

•  include the following information: presence of labels and/or signatures, describe all damage (scratches, chips, cracks, etc) and any significant identifying marks (open bubbles, large bubbles, folds in glass, significant tooling marks, etc)

•  Provide the full name and contact information of the owner(s) including mailing address and phone number.

•  if you do not receive a response within 48 hours of submission please send a text-only email message to inquire.

•  email to: info@blenkomuseum.org

Disclaimer & Qualifications:

Please note that The Blenko Museum and its agents are not certified or registered appraisers, though we may provide a range of values upon specific request, such values are estimates and opinion only. Furthermore, without the ability to physically inspect submitted items in person our identification and authentication has reasonable limitations.

Our primary authentication agent, Damon Crain, is the most widely published and recognized expert in the field of Historic Period Blenko. His authentication expertise has been used by many major museums, dealers and collectors throughout the United States and internationally.