If you are an E-Bayer who has an undocumented Indian carnival glass piece,
and you would like to display it in this guide, please feel free to contact us.

 The Carnival Glass of India, Part 8

Newly Documented Jain Tumblers
in Spear Quartet Patterns

by curculiosglass

    

Happy Dog tumbler:
a previously undocumented Jain piece

photo by oxbeetle

          This is Part 8 of a twelve-part guide on carnival glass from India.  This section of our guide is an expanding photographic gallery of new and remarkable Jain pieces that have appeared on E-Bay in the last year. To see other parts of our guide that provide general facts on Indian carnival glass and vase identification information, click on the links in the guide Table of Contents at the end of this page.  This guide was made possible by the many E-Bayers who came together to contribute photographs to this project.  Please leave feedback by clicking the button at page bottom.

Introduction

          Part 7 of our guide shows several newly documented frosted-marigold Indian carnival pitchers and describes the distinctive qualities of Jain's frosted marigold glass and the process by which it was produced.  Part 7 also counsels buyers that the workmanship of such pieces varies greatly and advises buyers on what to look for when assessing Jain's frosted marigold carnival glass before purchase.

         There are 75 documented Indian carnival glass tumbler patterns; these are listed at page bottom.  Only 8 of these patterns exhibit an unusual treatment, introduced by the Jain Glass Works, which combines etched frosted glass with iridescent marigold coloring.  The 8 tumbler patterns are known as Beaded Mirrors, Bombay Bouquet, Canary Tree, Flower & Spear Quartet, Pillars & Rings, Star Flower & Garden, Swan & Shell (tumble up) and Swans & Flowers.  Examples of all of these can be viewed at the website Tumbler World  (tumblerworld.com/JainNew2.html).

           Despite the relative scarcity of frosted-marigold Indian carnival glass, a number of previously undocumented frosted-marigold Indian carnival tumblers surfaced on E-Bay in 2007-2008.  Such tumblers appeared in three principle shapes:   4 1/4" tumblers with spearhead-shaped designs;  4 1/2" tumblers with stacked-ring bases;  and small 3 3/4" tumblers with plain shapes.  This guide section, Part 8, focuses on etched tumblers with spearhead designs, while Part 9 features the other two etched tumbler varieties.  

Frosted-Marigold Tumblers with Spearhead Designs
          

 

Jain imprint on vase of Happy Dog Tumbler,
photo by bottleman

          Four tumblers appeared on E-Bay in 2008 that have a similar design:  all have four "spears," or groups of lines that are splayed at the base but converge as they near the tumbler's top, forming a spear-tip shape.  A similar design can be found on Indian carnival pitchers shown in Part 7 of this guide.  We believe that tumblers made in this general pattern are a product of the Jain Glass Works, because many examples bear the printed capitals "JAIN" impressed on the base (as shown above).  All are similar to four previously documented patterns known as Flower & Spear Quartet; Star Flower & Garden; Swans & Flowers and Canary Tree.  These all also feature a repeated spearhead design; the four patterns can be viewed at the website Tumbler World  (tumblerworld.com/JainNew2.html).

  

Happy Dog tumbler
photos by oxbeetle

           Happy Dog.  Our first example of a newly surfaced tumbler with the spearhead design is the Happy Dog tumbler shown directly above and at the top of this guide.  The tumbler is 4 1/8" tall, and has four frosted glass panels alternating with spearhead designs.  Two panels feature an illustration of a fox-like dog holding a club; the second two panels depict the same dog fleeing across a bridge.  We're curious about whether these dog panels depict a trickster character out of a popular story or myth -- if any E-Bayer knows of such as story, please contact us.  Perhaps the tumbler is meant to illustrate a story about a dog who likes to play cricket?  Or a dog who enjoys whacking people and then running off gleefully?  It is notable that the dog featured resembles a dhole, the wild dog of India.  (A dhole is a small reddish-gold dog that looks a little like a fox crossed with a coyote.  Dholes were once common in Uttar Pradesh, the Indian state in which Firozabad and the Jain Glass Works are located, and the dhole appears as a bad-guy character in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.)  The panels on this tumbler are frosted to within 1/8" of the rim, which is ringed with a narrow band of unfrosted transparent glass.  The dogs and quartet of spearheads are iridescent marigold.  The base of the tumbler is iridized marigold and is imprinted with the word "Jain".  This tumbler was discovered by E-Bayer  bottleman and surfaced on E-Bay in September, 2008.

Lotus & Spears Quartet
photo by curculiosglass

           Lotus & Spear Quartet.   This tumbler was found by E-Bayer ponypainter, and sold on E-Bay in June, 2008.  Two more examples of the tumbler pattern appeared on E-Bay in September, 2008.  Like the Happy Dog tumbler, the Lotus & Spear Quartet tumbler has four sets of "spears," or marigold impressed lines that intersect to form a spearhead shape.  Between these are four frosted panels, each with a repeated etched-marigold pattern of stems bearing flowers with layered pointed petals.  The blossoms resemble the Indian Water Lily (Nelumbo nucifera), also known as the Indian Lotus or Sacred Lotus, a flower that figures prominently in Hindu iconography.  Below each flower is a grid work formed by intersecting stems and water ripples.  As on the Happy Dog tumbler shown above, the panels on this Lotus & Spear Quartet tumbler are frosted to within 1/8" of the rim, which is ringed with a narrow band of unfrosted transparent glass. 

          Unlike all other tumblers shown on this page, the Lotus & Spear Quartet tumbler does not bear the Jain logo on its base; instead, the tumbler's base is impressed with the letters "CB".  The CB imprint is found on at least one other etched frosted-over-marigold tumbler pattern with a spearhead design -- Flower & Spear Quartet.  According to the Standard Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass, 11th ed. (p. 55), the CB logo belongs to a Jain competitor known as the CB Glassworks.  However, the identical design of this tumbler and others bearing spearhead designs impressed with "JAIN" suggests that "CB" may be an secondary imprint of Jain or, in the alternative, that Jain licensed another company to use Jain's molds.

  

A Canary Variant tumbler
introduced to E-Bay in 2007
photo by ponypainter

          Canary Tree Variant.  The tumbler shown directly above surfaced on E-Bay in May, 2007; this tumbler is undocumented in any readily available publication.  The 4 1/8" tumbler was found and sold by E-Bayer ponypainter.  The tumbler bears the Jain logo on its base and features four sets of vertical ribs that intersect to form spearhead shapes.  These divide four frosted panels etched with canaries and crested birds roosting in tropical trees.   The tumbler's top rim is ringed with a narrow band of unfrosted transparent glass.

             This tumbler pattern closely resembles the Jain tumbler pattern known as Canary Tree, which was first featured in A Century of Carnival Glass, by Glen & Stephen Thistlewood (p. 173); a photograph of the Canary Tree pattern may be viewed at the website Tumblerworld (tumblerworld.com/JainNew1.html).  The pattern shown above, however, is notably dissimilar to Canary Tree on close inspection:  the trees' leaves are a different shape, and the birds perch in different positions. 

          After posting photographs of the Canary Variant tumbler here, we received additional information on the tumbler from Bob Smith, the owner of the largest carnival tumbler collection in the world and a expert on Indian carnival.  Smith states that he has encountered this Jain pattern previously, and that he calls the pattern "Canary Tree Variant" -- hence, we adopted this name.   Smith states that the tumbler is "very scarce" and "would make an excellent addition to any collection".

           

Airplane and Spear Quartet
photos by bottleman

          Airplane & Spear Quartet:  A fourth and remarkable example of a newly surfaced tumbler with spearhead designs is the one shown above, tentatively christened "Airplane & Spear Quartet".  This tumbler is the only piece of Indian carnival we know of that features a representation of a modern machine -- an airplane.  Indian carnival frosted-marigold patterns generally embody plant and animal designs representing Indian flora and fauna or characters from Hindu mythology.  The airplane shown here looks like an old propeller plane.  The plane appears in iridescent marigold on two panels.  The other two panels feature a six-pointed marigold star inside of which is an etched silhouette of a similar propeller plane.  During World War II, and thus the period of the 1930's in which Jain issued carnival glass, American forces were stationed in India.  Such forces included airforce bombers.  We wonder whether the airplanes set inside stars might be a reference to American military planes (despite the fact that the star is six-pointed, rather than five-pointed).  This tumbler bears the word "JAIN' impressed on its iridized base and is slightly smaller than the other tumblers shown above -- 3 7/8".  The tumbler's top rim is ringed with a narrow band of unfrosted transparent glass.  This tumbler was found in Firozabad, and offered for sale by E-Bayer  bottleman  in September, 2008.

                      
    Previously Documented Indian Carnival
Tumbler Patterns

          As of 2008, 75 tumbler patterns have been documented in the following three books, which are the most comprehensive resources featuring Indian Carnival glass:   Glen & Stephen Thistlewood's A Century of Carnival Glass (2001);  Edwards & Carwile's Standard Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass (2008); and  Edwards & Carwile's The Standard Companion to Non-American Carnival Glass: Identification Value Guide (2006).  Unless otherwise noted, the tumblers and pitchers below have been attributed to Jain Glass Works of Firozabad India.

         DOCUMENTED PATTERNS:  Aman tumbler (u),  Angoori tumbler (Agrawal), Australian Daisy tumbler, Australian Daisy & Shield tumbler, Banded Grape & Leaf pitcher and tumbler, Banded Moon & Stars tumbler, Beaded Mirrors tumbler, Beaded Panels & Grapes tumbler, Beaded Spears tumbler and pitcher, Bearded Spears variant tumbler,  Bride's Bouquet aka Rinroll tumbler, Calcutta Diamonds pitcher and tumbler, Calcutta Rose tumbler, Canary Tree tumbler, Cathedral Windows pitcher and  tumbler (u), Celebration tumbler, Circled Star & Vines tumbler (Paliwal Glass Works), Diamond & Bows aka Diamond & Grapes tumbler (u), Diamond Cattails tumbler, Diamond Panels & Ribs tumbler (u), Diamond Stud tumbler and pitcher (u), Drapery Bracelet pitcher and tumbler, Embroidered Flower & Urn tumbler, Embroidered Panels tumbler, Etched Vine & Flowers tumbler and pitcher (u), Feather Columns aka Aakriti (u) tumbler,  Flower Web aka Sugar Cane tumbler, Four Suites tumbler,  Frosted Lotus tumbler, Ganges Garden  tumbler (u), Garden Arbor tumbler; Georgette tumbler (u), Golden Hare pitcher (u), Grapevine & Spikes aka Spiked Grape & Vine tumbler, Havelli tumbler, Helen's Star vase, India Daisy tumbler (u), Indian Bangles tumbler and pitcher, Indian Bracelet tumbler and pitcher, (u), Indian Enameled Blossoms tumbler (u), Indian Key tumbler (u), Kathleen's Flowers aka Fantasy Flowers tumbler, Madhu tumbler (u), Madonna pitcher and tumbler, Mae's Daisies aka Grapevine & Flower tumbler, Majarajah (shot glass); Mini Diamonds tumbler (u), Mirror & Crossbars tumbler, Mirrored Peacocks tumbler, Monsoon tumbler and pitcher, Muscadine tumbler, Muscadine and Muscadine Variant tumblers, Palace Gates tumbler, Pyramid aka Pinnacle tumbler, Priya tumbler, Ribbed Beaded Spears tumbler, Royal Garland tumbler; Sansara tumbler, Sarita aka Anna Eve tumbler (u), Shalimar tumbler and pitcher (ascribed to Jain, but pitchers have appeared with paper labels bearing the Advance logo), Shazam tumbler and pitcher, Shielded Flower tumbler (u), Songbird tumbler, Spice Grater and Spice Grater Variant tumblers and pitchers, Spiked Grape & Vine aka Grapevine & Spikes tumbler, Starflower & Ribs tumbler and pitcher (u), Starflower & Rolls tumbler and pitcher (u), Stars over India tumbler (u), Swans & Flowers tumbler, Tribal vase (u), Twister tumbler, Vineyard Harvest aka Australian Grape tumbler, Whirlsaway tumbler.

          The website tumblerworld.com  also documents and provides photographs of  21 Jain tumbler patterns not included above:   Anjuna, Bengal Blossom, Bombay Bouquet, Bombay Trellis, Fantasy Flower, Festival Moon, Flower & Spear Quartet (made by CB); Framed Starflowers, Golden Grapes, Indian Ribs, Indian Summer, Jasmine, Maharanee (shot glass. a variant of Maharajah); Olympic Tudor & Beads, Pillar & Rings, Plain Jain, Punjab Flower, Shalimar Variant, Swan & Shell, Temple Portals and Woodland Melody.  Vikram Bachhawat's website at Konark Collectibles features three as yet unnamed and undocumented Indian carnival tumblers (geocities.com/bachhawat2us/).

To view additional newly documented tumbler patterns, continue on to Part 9 of this guide.

*     *     *

To visit other parts of the guide, click on one of the links below.

          Many thanks to E-Bayers oxbeetle, ponypainter and bottleman,  for generously contributing photographs to this guide.   And Rights to all photos belong to the photographers, and pictures should not be used without their permission.  Text is (c) 2008 curculiosglass, all rights reserved.  To locate any E-Bayer whose name is mentioned here, or to visit his or her store, simply click on "SITE MAP" on the bottom of your screen, and then click on "Feedback Forum" on the right top corner of the screen that next appears.  Type or copy the E-Bayer's name into the search blank.  To see our other guides on glass, click on GUIDE INDEX.   If you found this guide helpful, please leave feedback by clicking the button below.