Easily Confused Vases - Quick ID Guide
Tall & Thin Vases with Panels

     

Jefferson's Iris with Meander whimsey vase (left)
with Cooperative Flint's Ray vase (center)
and Fostoria's Heirloom vase (right)

        The three opalescent vases shown here are often confused on E-Bay:  the Ray vase, made by the Cooperative Flint Glass Company; the Iris with Meander whimsey vase made by the Jefferson Glass Company; and the Heirloom vase made by Fostoria.  While the three vases appear similar on first glance, they are easily distinguished if you examine their  bases and rims. 

          If your vase has thin ribs rather than panels, or is wider than the vases shown here, try one of the two following guides instead:  Vases with Ribs  or  Miscellaneous Opalescent Vases. 

Cooperative Flint Ray vase, circa 1904-1920's
photos by n_it_to_win_it  
     

Ray Vase.  The bases of Cooperative Flint's Ray vases feature a many-rayed star inside a smooth circle.  One-fourth inch above the base, the vase body flares outward in a short skirt; the underside of the skirt is decorated with closely-spaced molded lines or short "rays".  The vase has 12 panels that terminate at the mouth in 12 rounded points.  For information on this vase, see our guide on opalescent vases. 

 Jefferson's Iris with Meander vase whimsey, 1904

Iris with Meander whimsey vase.    This  vase is whimseyed from a bowl; the stretching of the Iris with Meander pattern creates a ribbed vase effect.  Sometimes, stretched fleur-de-lis are discernible at the bottom of the vase.  The vase's mouth has 6 rounded points .  (The other two vases featured here have 12 points.)   The underside of the base of an Iris with Meander vase has an ordinary many-rayed star.  For information on this vase, see our guide on Jefferson whimsey vases.

Vintage (1959-1970) Fostoria Heirloom vase

Heirloom.  Fostoria Heirloom vases come in many variations and sizes.  The photograph above is of a medium-sized Heirloom vase that has 12 panels that terminate at the mouth in 12 rounded points.  This vase can be distinguished from similar vases by the distinctive eight-petaled flower shape on its base.  Heirloom vases often have clear edging around the rim (clear cased glass); older opalescent vases have opalescent (milky-opaque) rims.  

A note on Fostoria Heirloom vases.   Heirloom vases are not featured in any of our guides on early (Victorian) opalescent glass, because they herald from a much later era:  the vases were made by Fostoria from 1959 to 1970.  While not as old as the two other vases shown here, Fostoria's Heirloom vase is a lovely piece that deserves to be identified correctly.   The authors of the Standard Encylopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed. (p. 219), write that the quality of Fostoria's Heirloom pieces is outstanding, and that Fostoria's Heirloom pieces "should be collected with the best of glass items of the 1960's and 1970's." 

Opalescent Heirloom vases appear in blue, green, vaseline, white and pink; the vases also are found in non-opalescent colors.  In addition to the medium-sized, slender vase shown above, Fostoria issued a very tall vase known as the Heirloom floor vase, that has a ruffled mouth and very different base.  Fostoria also produced an Heirloom vase pattern called a "Queen's Petticoat" (or #5056), that has small, nubby feet.  (Neither of these vases, however, could be mistaken for the Ray or Iris with Meander vases shown above).  The Heirloom pattern was also issued on mini-vases, handkerchief vases, epergnes, bowls and bowl-like shapes sometimes called "shallow vases" on E-Bay, small pitchers, plates, candleholders and other shapes.  Some, but not all of these shapes feature an 8-petal flower design on the base.

The Fostoria glass company was founded in 1887 in Fostoria, Ohio; the factory relocated to Moundsville, West Virginia in 1892 and continued operating until 1989.  If you're interested in learning more about Fostoria glass, we recommend the websites Fostoriaglass.org  and Fostoriacollectors.org.  A photograph of a stunning array of Fostoria Heirloom pieces can be found at the website of the National Depression Glass Association of Wichita, Kansas at ndga.net. (Look under the heading "Evolution of a Glass Show" -- the photo appears under the subheading "Fostoria Heirloom," two thirds of the way down the page.  The ndga website also features a short article on the heirloom patterns, with illustrations of heirloom pieces at this url:  ndga.net/rainbow/1978/78rrg03b.htm).

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Many thanks to E-Bayer n_it_to_win_it  for her photographs of the Cooperative Flint Ray vases.    Rights to all photos belong to the photographers, and pictures should not be used without their permission.  Text is (c) 2007 curculiosglass, all rights reserved. 

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