This is Part 2 of an 8-part reference guide to early opalescent glass vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company.  If you're having trouble identifying an early opalescent vase, and don't see it in this guide, try our other guides on opalescent and carnival glass vases, which can be accessed by clicking on GUIDE INDEX.  This guide was made possible by the many E-Bayers who contributed photographs to the project.  Sellers should feel free to link listings to this guide.

Opalescent Vase Identification Guide:
Jefferson Glass Company Vases, Part 2

by curculiosglass

Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase
Jefferson Glass Co., circa 1904

photo by curculiosglass

INTRODUCTION

             This eight-part guide features 20 pressed-glass opalescent vases issued by the Jefferson Glass Company of Steubenville, Ohio, circa 1900-1906.  The guide's purpose is to help E-Bayers identify old opalescent glass vases; to document rare and unusual old American glass that passes through E-Bay; and to provide information on Jefferson vases not currently furnished in widely available resources.

             Part 1 of this guide series provides a history of the Jefferson Glass Company and general information about Jefferson's opalescent glass. This section of our guide, Part 2,  focuses on Jefferson's conventionally-shaped opalescent vases (rather than footed and novelty vases), with the intent of aiding sellers and buyers in telling Jefferson pieces from those of other opalescent vase manufacturers.  The vase patterns shown below appeared on E-Bay from 2006 to 2009.  These include Diamond & Oval Thumbprint, Heatherbloom, and Inverted Chevron.  Part 3 features three additional conventionally-shaped Jefferson opalescent vases, the ribbed patterns known as Lined Heart, Rib & Big Thumbprints and Twister.

          Other sections of this guide can be accessed by clicking on the Table of Contents at the bottom of the page.  Part 4 features Jefferson vases that are "whimseys," that is, vases shaped from non-vase molds;  Part 5 documents Jefferson's novelty vases;  Part 6  focuses on Jefferson's Jack-in-the Pulpit vases; Part 7 shows Jefferson's striped vases, and Part 8 features bulbous vases.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ID GUIDE
to Conventionally-Shaped Jefferson Vases 

Green opalescent Diamond & Oval Thumbprint Vase, circa 1904,
with an illustration from Jefferson's Follansbee catalog
photos by curculiosglass

Diamond & Oval Thumbprint.   This vase was given its name by Marion Hartung, who wrote in Opalescent Pattern Glass that Jefferson's Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase had "a certain charm of its own" (p. 29).  As shown above, right, an illustration of a squatty Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase originally appeared in clear glass as Jefferson's "No. 228" in the company's sole surviving catalog, printed after the Jefferson relocated to Follansbee, West Virginia n 1907 (see Kamm, A Seventh Pattern Glass Book [1953], p. 154).   According to William Heacock's 1975 edition of  Opalescent Glass from A to Z,  Jefferson issued this pattern circa 1904 (p. 65;  see rev. ed., p. 49).

Shown directly above and at the top of this page, the Diamond & Oval Thumbprint pattern features opalescent lines that criss-cross to form diamonds.  Below the diamonds, circling the bottom of the vase, is a series of twelve finger-tip shapes that are slightly raised above the vase's surface.  The mouths of Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases are ruffled, and may be slightly or widely flared. 

On taller Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases like that shown below, left, the oval thumbprints may be so stretched that they are difficult to discern.  The diamond pattern, however, is prominent on both tall and squatty vases and is especially striking when viewed from above:

A tall Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase (left),
with interior views of a second green opalescent vase

photos by curculiosglass (left) and 327phantom62

Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases vary in size from 6" to 14" tall.  The vases shown here all have a base diameter of 3 1/2".  The bases of Jefferson's Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases bear a distinctive geometric design that aids greatly in identifying the pattern.  (A helpful photograph of a Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase's base can be viewed in our guide on  vase bases).

The Diamond & Oval Thumbprint pattern is referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., p. 47, which reports the vases, in order of highest value first, in  blue, green and white opalescent glass.  In July, 2008, a Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase in bright sapphire blue transparent (non-opalescent) glass surfaced on E-Bay.  Jefferson's Follasbee catalog advertsied the vases as part of a "crystal" assortment.

Diamond & Oval Thumbprint is occasionally confused with a similar crossed-lines pattern known as "Bubble Lattice," issued by both Buckeye and Hobbs, Brockunier on a variety of pieces.  Neither of these companies, however, produced vase shapes in Bubble Lattice.

      

Heatherbloom vases in squatty and stretched sizes, circa 1906
photos by curculiosglass

Heatherbloom.  This is a beautiful and unique pattern:  opalescent lines that resemble the edges of jagged leaves streak upward from the vase's base to its rim.  The vases' mouths are ruffled and may be widely flared as shown above left, or slightly flared as shown above right.  The undersides of the vases' bases bear an impressed star.

Heatherbloom vases range in size from squat vases such as the 7" size shown above left, to swung taller vases of up to 14".  The taller vase shown above right measures 12".  Both tall and squat vases have base diameters of 3 1/2".  William Heacock remarks in the revised edition of Opalescent Glass from A to Z that the shorter vases tend to show the pattern best (p. 65).   On taller, stretched vases, the pattern may be more difficult to discern. 

Heacock first noted in his 1975 edition of Opalescent Glass from A-Z that Minnie Kamm's 1953 reprint of Jefferson's early Follansbee trade catalog inadvertently omitted some pages; on one of the omitted pages, Heatherbloom vases were featured as Jefferson's "No. 268" (Heacock, p. 67).  Heacock, who gave this pattern its name, estimated that the vases were issued circa 1905 (p. 67).  Notably, Heatherbloom vases appeared in a 1909 Butler Brothers wholesale catalog with other Jefferson opalescent vases (see Heacock, The Glass Collector, No. 6, spring-summer, 1983, p. 41). 

Heatherbloom vases are referenced on p. 76 of the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., which shows an indistinct photograph of a squatty vase in green opalescent.  (A Heatherbloom vase is misidentified in older editions of the SEOG as a "Scottish Moor" vase of the West Virginia Glass Company.)  Heacock's Opalescent Glass from A to Z, rev. ed., features a more detailed black-and-white photograph of a Heatherbloom squatty vase  (p. 65), and his earlier 1975 edition of the same work shows a tall Heatherbloom vase in green opalescent (See p. 80, fig. 427).  Heatherbloom vases appear in white, blue and green; according to the SEOG, green is the hardest to find.

  

Green Inverted Chevron vase, circa 1900-1910,
with details of rim and base

photos by curculiosglass

Inverted Chevron.  A chevron is an upside-down V, and so, as you might guess, "Inverted Chevron" is just a fancy way of saying "V".  The Inverted Chevron pattern features 8 panels of thick V-shapes that fit into each other to form designs that look a little like quills or plumes; the quill designs are separated by wide ribs that terminate in teardrop-shapes near the base.  The tops of the vases are rimmed with a narrow 1/8" band.  The above vase is 8" tall and has a 3"-diameter base that is smooth and patternless underneath.  The Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., p. 83, notes that the author has seen Inverted Chevron vases in blue and green only, but that the pattern must come in white as well.  (A white vase in shown in our "easily confused vases guide," noted below.)  

We include this vase here, because the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass attributes the pattern to Jefferson (thus setting the date of manufacture between 1901-1906).  We question this attribution, however.  The SEOG notes that the Inverted Chevron pattern is quite similar to a second opalescent vase pattern identified by the SEOG as a "Plume Panels" vase issued by the Fenton Art Glass Company of Williamstown, West Virginia:

A blue opalescent Inverted Chevron vase,
 with a white vase, identified as a Fenton Plume Panels
photos by curculiosglass

We believe, however, that opalescent vases labeled with the two names "Inverted Chevron" and "Plume Panels" are in fact examples of a single pattern.  It is notable that Inverted Chevron vases do not appear in Jefferson's catalog or in any early Jefferson advertisements in wholesale catalogs.  There is currently insufficient evidence to link Inverted Chevron / Plume Panels opalescent vases either to Jefferson or to Fenton.  The vases shown here remain, to us, interesting and mysterious pieces.

 

For more information on this issue, see our guide on Vases with Feather Patterns.  That guide also includes additional photographs of Inverted Chevron vases and other similar opalescent vase patterns with feather designs.

Other Jefferson standard-size vase patterns:   Continue on to Part 3, which provides information on the Jefferson's standard-size ribbed vases.

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Jefferson Vase Guide Table of Contents

   Introduction
       Conventionally-shaped Vases
    Conventionally-shaped Ribbed Vases
Whimsey Vases
 Novelty Vases
   Jack-in-the-pulpit Vases
Striped Vases
Bulbous Vases

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        Many thanks to E-Bayer  327phantom62  for generously contributing photographs to this guide.  Rights to all photos belong to the photographers, and pictures should not be used without their permission.  Text is (c) 2007, 2009 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.

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