LATE 19TH CENTURY

'Lava' glass was so-called owing to the earliest examples which were made during the late 1800s purportedly with coloring agents from lava originating from Mount Etna in Sicily. This gave rise to the distinctive ware's other name of 'Sicilian Ware'. The production of this rare glass began in 1878, made by the Mt. Washington Glass Company of New Bedford, MA, and lasted only a few years.