There are collections of Gallé and Venetian and other rare glass, of porcelains and pottery and bronzes, of De Morgan and Minton and other rare tiles...

John Jacob Glessner, "Story of a House," 1923

Please click the following links to learn more about our collections.

Decorative Tiles

William DeMorgan

Steinway Piano

Lincoln Life Mask & Hand

Missing: Dining Table and Chairs!

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Glessner House has well over 6,000 artifacts in the museum's collection, most of which are original to the Glessner family. In addition to Aesthetic Movement and English Arts and Crafts Movement furniture, the collection includes a large number of ceramic vases and tiles, Art Nouveau glass, silver and other decorative objects. There are over 60 engravings, all of which were carefully selected by John and Frances Glessner for their home.

The museum owns the largest collection of objects by Chicago artisan and wood carver Isaac E. Scott. Notable among the objects are furniture, picture frames, ceramics and textile designs made specifically for the Glessner family.

Thanks to a special grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, Glessner House has been working for several years on entering the collection into an electronic database. Thus far, over 3,000 books have been cataloged and about two thousand other objects.