This is Part 4 of an 8-part guide on Jefferson's opalescent vases.   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, Part 4:  Whimsey Vases

by curculiosglass

A blue opalescent Tokyo whimsey vase,
made by Jefferson Glass, circa 1904

photos by curculiosglass

INTRODUCTION

          This is Part 4 of our eight-part guide on opalescent vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company of Steubenville Ohio from 1900-1906.  Part 1  of this guide provides a history of the Jefferson Glass Company and general information about Jefferson's opalescent glass.  Part 2 and Part 3 feature six conventionally-shaped Jefferson vases.  Part 5 and Part 6 are dedicated to Jefferson's opalescent novelty and footed vases.  Part 7  and  Part 8  focus on Jefferson striped and bulbous vases.

         This section of our guide features Jefferson's "whimsey vases".  Most opalescent Jefferson vases, such as those shown in other parts of this guide, were made from vase molds.  By contrast, a whimsey vase is stretched and shaped from glass poured into a mold meant for a different piece such as a bowl, dish or spooner.  Thus whimsey vases are unusually interesting and tend to show marked variety from vase to vase.  Traditionally, whimseys are thought of as pieces that the individual glassworker made for himself as a display of his special skill or inventiveness, and which he intended to slip home with at the end of the day. Some whimsey shapes, however, became so popular that they went into limited production -- the Tokyo vase shown here for example, was marketed by Jefferson in three colors.  Whimsey vases are at times difficult to identify, because the stretching of the glass often distorted the pattern. 

          Two more whimsey vases are shown below:  Iris with Meander, and Tokyo.  One Jefferson Part 3 of this guide also shows a third Jefferson vase whimsey:  Jefferson's Twister vase.

  
Photographic Guide to Jefferson Whimsey Vases

Tokyo pattern, as shown in
March, 1905 China, Glass & Pottery Review

Tokyo.   As shown above, the Tokyo pattern features a fan-like design bordered on either side by circles rimmed with oval shapes.  Jefferson's Tokyo glassware first appeared in a January 26, 1905 advertisement in Crockery & Glass Journal.  The pattern, listed as "No. 212,"  was included, in a variety of shapes, in Jefferson's sole surviving catalog, printed after the company relocated to Follansbee, West Virginia in 1906 (see Kamm, A Seventh Pattern Glass Book [1953], pp. 147, 154). 

Tokyo whimsey vases were pulled from footed bowls.  The vases appear in wholesale catalog advertisements placed by Jefferson in 1905 Butler Brothers wholesale catalogs (see Marketing Glass in America, vol. 3, ed. Dean Six, p. 45).  Tokyo vases are stretched to a tall, thin shape that distorts the original pattern to great effect, creating two distinct designs on alternate sides of the vases:

   Blue Tokyo whimsey vase, circa 1905, with
two views showing the stretched Tokyo pattern

photos by curculiosglass

Shown at the top of this guide page and directly above, Tokyo whimsey vases are striking and attractive.  They have an Art Deco look to them -- lines forming the base of the Tokyo pattern's fan design surge upward like fountains and separate into flourishes that meet on alternate sides in symmetrical rounded arcs..  Tokyo vases tend to be deeply ruffled, with opalescence increasing toward the vases' rims.  The vases have an unusual, three-toed bases; from beneath, a Tokyo whimsey vase base looks like a rounded triangle and features a 30-point star:

A Tokyo vase has a rounded triangular base
impressed with a many-rayed star.

photos by curculiosglass

Tokyo whimsey vases are found, in order of highest value first, in blue, green and white.  The vases are referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., at p. 205.  The 6th edition of the SEOG unfortunately does not provide photographs of the vases, although it does show the Tokyo pattern in other shapes (at p. 151).   

A note on Tokyo reproductions:  Many shapes made in the Tokyo pattern have been reproduced widely by contemporary glassmakers.  Notably, however, Tokyo whimsey vases have not been reproduced, and so if you've found one, it's safe to assume the vase is an original, made circa 1905.

Iris with Meander pattern, as shown in
Feb. 25, 1904 ad in Crockery & Glass Journal

Iris with Meander.  This pattern was initially called "Iris" by Jefferson, but has since come to be known both by the names Iris with Meander and Fleur-de-Lis Scrolled.  The pattern was issued by Jefferson in 1904 in a variety of shapes including table, water and berry sets, plates, compotes, toothpick holders and salt shakers.  The March 3, 1905 Crockery & Glass Journal described the Iris with Meander design as "meeting a flattering reception... It is an exquisite, dainty line, and cannot fail to achieve popularity."  The molds for the Iris with Meander Pattern were designed and made by George Hipkins, the founder of the Hipkins Novelty Mold Shop, which produced metal molds for a variety of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania glass works (see Kamm, p.p 96-98). 

As shown above in an illustration from a Jefferson Glass advertisement in Crockery & Glass, the Iris with Meander pattern is characterized by a series of fleur-de-lis designs above the bottom rim; above these, and evenly spaced between them, is a series of leaf-shapes.  This basic pattern becomes very distorted in Iris & meander whimsey vases which, according to the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., p. 171, were pulled from spooners and master bowl molds. 

          

Iris with Meander whimsey vase, circa 1904,
with detail of vase rim

On Iris with Meander vases, the stretched leaf designs of the Iris with Meander pattern create a ribbed effect, as shown in the photographs of the green opalescent vase above.  Although the Iris with Meander pattern is quite elongated on these tall vase whimseys, the fleur-de-lis designs are still clearly discernible near the vase bases:

Iris with Meander whimsey vase, circa 1904,
with details of fleur-de-lis design near base
photos by curculiosglass

The undersides of these vases sport a molded many-rayed star.  The above vase has a base diameter of 3 3/4" and measures 13 1/4" tall.  

Iris with Meander vase whimsies are found most often in blue, green and white.  They are also among Jefferson's very few conventionally-shaped opalescent vases to have appeared in canary opalescent as well. The Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., p 71 shows an array of canary-yellow pieces in this pattern collected by vaseline glass expert and author Dave Peterson.  (Jefferson's canary opalescent production is discussed in Part 1 of this guide).  According to the SEOG, canary and blue are the most valuable color in Iris with Meander vase whimseys, followed by green and then white. 

Iris with Meander Whimsey vases are often confused with Cooperative Flint's Ray vases and Fostoria's Heirloom vases; for additional photographs comparing the three vases, see our guide on easily confused thin vases with panels.

  
Jefferson Barbells and Astro bowls
photos by glassladyceg (left) and curculiosglass

  
Other Jefferson whimsey vase patterns:   The Jefferson pattern known as Barbells is found in a rare whimsey vase with a bulbous shape.  Jefferson's Astro pattern also appears infrequently in the form of bowls whimseyed into hats.  Both a Barbells vase and an Astro hat are shown in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 6th ed., p. 166.

Click here to continue on to Part 5 of this guide, which shows Jefferson's novelty and footed vases.

-- o --

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

__________________________________________________________

Many thanks to E-Bayer glassladyceg  for generously contributing her photo of the Barbells bowl to this guide.  Rights to all photos used here 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 in this guide,  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 FEEDBACK ON THIS GUIDE BY PRESSING THE BUTTON BELOW!  To direct other readers to this guide, tell them:  (1) Click on "site map" at the bottom of the E-Bay Screen; (2) Go to "Buyer Resources" and click on "Reviews and Guides;"  (3) Enter "Jefferson Opalescent Vases - ID Guide".  To read our other guides on carnival and opalescent glass, click on GUIDE INDEX.