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The cognomen “vom Glas” apparently derives from the seal and coat of arms of the Escher family which featured a drinking cup covered in nubs, much the same way as the “vom Luchs” cognomen derives from the Lynx on that branch’s coat of arms.
But why a cup?
Carl Keller-Escher in volume 1 of his 1885 work, Fünfhundert und sechzig Jahre aus der Geschichte der Familie Escher vom Glas speculates on how the Escher family acquired the “Glass” coat of arms (pp. 12 & 13). After noting the cup’s similarity with several other arms he states (translating from the German),
“The cup recalls the sign of the cupbearer, as it was carried in the coats of arms of several families belonging to the ministerial nobility which held the inherited office in powerful dynasties.”
“How did the Escher family come to possess this coat of arms? For a long time there was complete uncertainty about this question and even today we can only put forward one hypothesis about it, which, however, has gained a lot of plausibility through recent research. As Dr. Ferdinand Keller was busy publishing the coat of arms of Zurich, this unique monument to heraldry from the beginning of the 14th century, he noticed that the coat of arms or rather the crest of the “von Küssenberg” showed a golden cup on a red cushion, which in its form corresponds exactly to the cup on the old Escher seals. Could the Eschers have belonged to the ministerials of the Küssenberg dynasties?
“The barons flourished in the XII and XIII centuries; since they acquired possession of the Landgraviate of Stüelingen they have held the title of count. Their ancestral castle of Cussaperc, located between Kaiserstuhl and Zurzach in Klettgau, now represents on of the most magnificent castle ruins and is a popular excursion point from Zurich that is well worth seeing. Count Heinrich III, married to a sister of King Rudolf von Hapsburg dies around 1250 childless as the last of his family. In 1241 he had sold Küssenberg with all its accessories to the Bishopric of Constance.
“After the extinction of the dynasty, however, another family, which also called themselves “von Küssenberg”, continued to flourish for a long time (until the 15th century). They were ministerials, noble servants of the old counts, who passed over with the dominion on the Stift to Constance. Some members of the family were citizens of Zurich and lived behind fences (about 1360) in the area of the “Green Glass” house, which perhaps got its name from their coat of arms. While the Counts of Küssenberg had three swans’ necks (three crescents?) on their shields and a golden lion’s torso as a crest, the coat of arms of their ministeriales, the nobles of Küssenberg, shows a golden goblet in blue and on the helmet the golden goblet on a red cushion, suggesting they were the counts’ taverns, as in the roll of the coats of arms their coat of arms is entered directly below the tavern of Liebenberg.
“In the collections of the Antiquarian Society there are two seals from Küssenberg from the years 1406 and 1407 which, so to speak, completely match the Escher seals of the same time.
“Were the Eschers also ministeriales of the Counts of Küssenberg, related to the nobles of that name? Were they possibly transferred from Constance to Kaiserstuhl after the Bishops had acquired the lordship of Küssenberg, after which it became part of Constance? These questions remain open for the time being, but apart from the striking match of the coats of arms, enter the fact that the Eschers of Kaiserstuhl immediately, one can say suddenly, appear as people of substance, reputation and significant wealth and immediate noble family connections.”