I recently purchased a set of lovely "Madrid" pattern depression glass plates from a sweet old lady who had them in her attic "forever", or so I thought.  It turns out they were reproductions made by Indiana Glass Company sometime since 1976.   I was obviously very dissapointed to discover this, but I was equally unhappy when I did a search on Ebay and found that many of the "Madrid" plates listed as originals were also reproductions, or had such bad photographs that you couldn't see the pattern differences which would give them away.  It is quite easy to tell the originals from the new if you know what to look for, so I decided to write a guide to help prevent other inexperienced buyers from making the same error I did, and hopefully save them a lot of money in the process. 

    Let me state from the begining that there is nothing wrong with reproduction "Madrid".  These peices are, in my opinion, just as beautiful as the originals.  The reproductions have their own history, purpose, and they too have value.  The problem is simply that many people don't know the difference and often unknowingly sell them as originals, or worse, they know they are reproductions and sell them as originals anyway because they know most other people won't know the difference.  This only serves to lower peoples' confidence in purchasing peices in this pattern, and this ultimately hurts everyone.   The best thing to do is to educate yourself as much as possible.  You should become an expert on your favorite pattern and carry pictures and measurements of both the originals and known reproductions with you when shopping.  Always make sure you can clearly see the pattern in the photos before purchasing anything online.  I have more confidence in sellers who have both reproductions and original pieces for sale and can show me the differences, or who can clearly  point out the indications that their pieces are authentic. 

    There are a number of easy-to-see details that you can use to distinguish between the original "Madrid" by Federal Glass, "Recollection" (a re-issued version by Federal), and the later Indiana Glass reproductions.  First of all, the colors are different.  Madrid and Recollection were both produced by Federal Glass company in the same colors and pattern (amber, blue, pink and crystal), but Recollection was dated in the pattern (1976) thus they are easy to spot.  When Federal Glass went bankrupt, they sold the rights to this pattern to Indiana Glass Company.  Indiana Glass introduced a new color (a teal/aqua-blue), changed the pattern slightly in some pieces, created a number of new pieces,  reproduced the old ones and stopped dating them as Federal had.  The regular blue & pink they issued differs slightly in color from the original.  This of course would only be visible if originals were avaliable for comparison.  (I will add comparison photos of these when I can find originals to photograph.)

    There are also several changes they made to the original pattern in different pieces.  I won't go into all of them, but a couple of good examples are the candlesticks and dinnerplates.  The original candlesticks and the new are virtually identical except the new ones have ridges on the inside to hold the candle and the originals had a smooth-sided well.  The dinner plates were originally 10 1/2" in diameter.  The new ones are 10 1/4".    On the Indiana plates there is an obvious 1/2" gap between the beaded chain pattern around the inner edge where the originals met with a tiny gap.  (see the photos of my blue reproductions below)  I have also noticed that on the originals, the scroll pattern in the corners was more clearly positioned on the rim and in the new ones made by Indiana Glass there is more under-lap of the lowest part of the design.  Other peices have their own halmarks, or weren't made orignally to begin with.   Original Madrid is very rare and very old (1920s-1930s) and commands a very high price, so I would study the originals very closely prior to making a purchase. 

    You should ask lots of questions of any seller, and don't make the assumption that an antique dealer will know the originals from the reproductions any better than you do.  I went to an antique shop recently that had both original and reproduction Madrid together in the same case.  The differences were obvious to me (now), but the prices they wanted for the reprductions made me question whether they knew the difference, so I asked.  The owner said that they got most of their glassware from estate sales and that they "tried not to get into all that" and mentioned that they had a number of reproduction Roseville pottery for sale as well (these were labled as reproductions, the glassware was not).   This story is scary, but completely true.

    If you would like more information on these and other depression glass reproductions, I would strongly recommend the "Antique Trader Guide to Fakes and Reproductions" by Mark Chervenka.  This book has no color photos of the Madrid, but it does have very good black and white photos showing the pattern differences in a number of pieces for this and other popular depression glass patterns.  This was one of my main sources for the information I have shared here with you, but he goes into much more detail.  Until you are more familiar with your favorite pattern, I would always carry a measuring tape and guidebook with you when shopping for depression glass.  That way you can tell what the original colors were (many reproductions were made in colors not originally availiable), what the pattern looks like in different pieces, what peices were originally made, and what the original dimensions were (reproductions often differ slightly in size).  If a seller doesn't want you to measure the pieces, go somewhere else.  You will also want to familiarize yourself with the current value of the piece.  I have seen many greatly overpriced, especially rare patterns like Madrid.  I like to use "Warman's Depression Glass Field Guide" both as a pattern identifier, but also as a value guide.  I like it because it has great drawings of the patterns as well as photos (very helpful), quick color & pattern guides in the front, and its small enough to carry in a pocket or purse and I can whip it out quickly and discreetly when needed without lugging around a backpack (which looks really suspicious to shop owners!).

    To conclude, let me again emphasize that reproductions are fine as long as you aren't paying original prices for them or selling them as originals.  It can be nice to have a usable set in your favorite pattern on the table while your dear originals rest safely in your china cabinet!  Depression glass is steadily gaining in popularity with a whole new generation taking interest in these unique pieces of history.  It is a good time to buy if you know what to look for.  Good luck, have fun, and never stop learning!