Christmas Trees Vase - Mystic Maze Vase - Vaseline Opalescent Vase

ID GUIDE, PART III:
MISCELLANEOUS OPALESCENT  VASES (1880-1930)

Vaseline Opalescent Vases with Unknown Makers

by curculiosglass

             

Three Vaseline Opalescent vases of unknown origin
photos by polesitter2, baldbigfoot and curculiosglass

Introduction

           This is Part III of a 3-part a reference guide to American pressed-glass opalescent vases manufactured at end of the Victorian Era, around the turn of the century (1898-1912).  Part I and  Part II  of the guide focus on "conventionally-shaped" vases (as opposed to footed, novelty and celery vases), with the intent of aiding buyers and sellers in distinguishing and identifying similar-looking early American opalescent vases.  Part III focuses on unusual early American vaseline opalescent vases that appeared on E-Bay in 2008.

Photographic Gallery of Opalescent Vases

  

Christmas Trees Vaseline Opalescent Vase
photo by polesitter2

Christmas Trees Vase.  This curious vase was discovered by E-Bayer polesitter2 and appeared on E-bay in September, 2008.  The vase is 51/4" tall with a 3" base diameter, features inverted fir-tree-like shapes and fluoresces brilliant green under a black light.  The pattern on the vase is nearly identical to that shown on an oil lamp smoke shade that appears in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 37.  The shade shown in the SEOG is opalescent glass with rubina verde coloring -- that is, vaseline combined with cranberry glass.  The SEOG calls the pattern "Christmas Trees" and notes that the rubina verde treatment on the Christmas Trees smoke shade was introduced by Hobbs, Brockunier in 1884 -- other than that fact, nothing else connects the pattern to that company, or to any other.  E-bayer polesitter2 notes:  "This vase is a mystery to me because the pattern appears to be upside down."  Polesitter2 speculates that the pattern might be upside down because the piece is a pedestal for another piece and thus should be inverted to sit mouth-down.  The pattern also has been stretched, so that the Christmas trees are more elongated than the ones on the smoke shade shown in the SEOG.  Thus, the above piece might have been pulled or whimseyed from a mold of a different height or shape.  We would appreciate any information on this piece from E-Bayers.

       

Nameless Canary Opalescent Vase
photos courtesy of $$$for cruises (left two photos)
and baldbigfoot (all other photos)

Nameless Canary Opalescent Vase.  This vase appeared on E-Bay in August, 2008.  It was found by E-Bayer $$$forcruises,  and is now in the collection of baldbigfoot, who kindly supplied us with four of the above photos.  The vase is quite tall -- 15 inches -- with a base measuring 4 1/2" in diameter.  The vase has 9 panels terminating in 9 slightly pulled up points.  It is made of bright canary opalescent glass and, as shown above, fluoresces bright green under a black light.  The base is smooth and unmarked.  The vase appears nowhere in the most comprehensive resources on pressed opalescent glass.  It cannot be found, for example, in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass; nor have we been able to located the piece in wholesale catalogs of the early 1900's.  The single book we know of that features this vase is Sue Davis' Pictorial Guide to Vaseline Glass (2002), which shows the vase on p. 48 beside the unassuming caption, "tall opalescent ribbed vase".  Davis notes that "This vase resembles many of the vases made in the early 1900's by Northwood & Dugan."   We believe the vase dates from that period as well; the piece could be from Northwood, Dugan, Fenton or a number of other glass works producing opalescent pressed-glass in the early 1900's.  We would welcome information on this piece from any E-Bayer.  In the meantime, we'll just leave this piece as "Nameless Canary Opalescent Vase".

   

Mystic Maze vase, with detail of vase mouth
photos courtesy of curculiosglass

Mystic Maze.  This is the sole example of a blown vase in this three-part guide.  The above vase flares at the rim and the base and features a maze-like design of pale canary opalescent lines alternating with lines of colorless glass.  Opalescence is heaviest at the rim.  Under ultraviolet light, the yellow-green swirls in the design fluoresce a brilliant green from vase bottom to top.  The design is similar to the pressed-glass pattern of Jefferson Glass known as Swirling Maze.  The vase is referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., at p. 107.  This source has assigned the vase pattern the name "Mystic Maze," and notes that little is known about the vase's origins.   The underside of its base shows a rough pontil and there is no pressed pattern on the surface.  The vase is 6 7/8" tall with a base diameter measuring 3 5/8".  The SEOG has no records of this vase pattern in any other color.  The authors feature the vase in the SEOG's section on vases made between 1880 and 1930.  We could find the vase in no other available resource on early opalescent or early vaseline glass.

Click here to return to Part I  or  Part II of this guide.

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Many thanks to E-bayers  baldbigfoot,  polesitter2  and  SSSforcruises,  for generously contributing photographs to this part of our guide.  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.  To locate any E-Bay seller mentioned here,  just click on "Site Map" at the bottom of your E-Bay screen, and then click on "Feedback Forum" at the right top corner of the large menu that pops up.  Type or copy the seller's name into the Feedback Forum's search blank.  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VOTE ON THIS GUIDE BY PRESSING THE BUTTON BELOW.   To access our other guides, just click here:  GUIDES INDEX.