This is Part 8 of an eight-part guide on opalescent vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company.  The patterns shown here include  Convex Rib  and Jefferson Spatter.   This guide was made possible by the many E-Bayers who have contributed photographs to this project.  Please leave feedback by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.  Sellers should feel free to link listings to this guide.

ID Guide to
Jefferson Opalescent Vases, Part 8:
Bulbous Vases

by curculiosglass

  

Convex Rib and "Jefferson Spatter" vases, circa 1901
Are these really Jefferson vases?

photos by scott0228 and 3benterprise

            This is the last part of a 7-part guide on vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company of Steubenville, Ohio from 1900 to 1906.  Part 1 of this guide provides a history of the company and general information on Jefferson's opalescent glass.  

            This section of our guide focuses on Jefferson's "bulbous" vases, the term for vases that bell out near the base in a bottom-heavy shape like a bulb's.  Bulbous vases shown here include the patterns now known as Convex Rib and Jefferson Spatter.  Photographs of these patterns are provided below, with the purpose of aiding buyers and sellers in vase identification.  The other parts of this guide, which feature Jefferson's conventionally-shaped, whimsey, novelty, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and striped vases, can be accessed by clicking on links in the Table of Contents at the bottom of the page.

             Special thanks to Victorian opalescent glass expert Bill Banks (E-bayer ainventor), author of  Victorian Opalescent Glass Identification and Values, for his help in providing information essential to this guide.
  

Were Convex Rib and "Jefferson Spatter" vases
 made by the Jefferson Glass Company?

Canary opalescent Convex Rib vase,
with speckled cranberry frit

photo by topshelfantiques

          The two vases patterns shown in this guide - Convex Rib and "Jefferson Spatter" - are attributed to the Jefferson Glass Company by the sixth edition of the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, pp. 36, 85.  Nevertheless, as we explain below, "Jefferson Spatter" vases were not in fact a Jefferson product -- they were issued by the Northwood Glass Works of the National Glass Company in 1901.  In addtion, no conclusive evidence exists that Convex Rib vases were a Jefferson product.  How did these two patterns come to be labeled Jefferson vases by the SEOG?

          For years, the SEOG has attributed early 1900's opalescent glassware embellished with speckled-cranberry frit rims to Jefferson, because this particular glass-decorating technique is a hallmark of Jefferson Glass.  Frit is glass that has been ground into a powder and mixed into glass that is in a hot, molten state; as it cools, the frit remains suspended in the glass, producing a speckled effect.  As shown in the above photos, Convex Rib vases have speckled-cranberry frit rims, and accordingly, the SEOG's fifth edition attributed the vases to Jefferson. 

           Many Jefferson vases have speckled frit rims:  examples are shown in Parts 1, 4 and 5 of this guide, and they include the patterns Jefferson Wide Rib, Fluted Bars & Beads, Jefferson Block, Jefferson Spool and Jefferson Stripe.  Nevertheless, there is something a little tautological in the SEOG's method of attributing all pieces with speckled-frit rims to Jefferson.  (Vases with speckled-frit rims are Jefferson products; therefore any vase with a speckled-frit rim is a Jefferson product.) 

          Although we think it is possible that Jefferson made Convex Rib vases, no certain documentation -- in the form of old Jefferson catalogs or wholesale catalogs, for example -- conclusively proves Convex Rib vases' origin.  It is notable that the SEOG's original attribution of Convex Rib vases to Jefferson --which appeared in the fifth edition --was very tentative:  "We believe this pattern was made by Jefferson Glass about 1909 or 1910 but we have no proof, except for the cranberry edging" (p. 43).  This original assertion was shaky enough, given that Jefferson ceased manufacturing opalescent glass in 1906.  More troubling, however, is that without any intervening new documentation, the sixth edition states simply, "This pattern was made by Jefferson Glass around 1905."

          The SEOG's attribution of the Convex Rib pattern to Jefferson led to a clearly erroneous attribution of yet another vase to Jefferson -- what the SEOG now identifies as a "Jefferson Spatter" vase (p. 85).  The sixth edition notes:  "This vase was made on the same mould shape at the Convex Rib vase from Jefferson" and assigns the vase the name "Jefferson Spatter" -- although this name appears nowhere in original company catalogs.  As we explain below, however, Jefferson Spatter vases were not issued by Jefferson after all.

Convex Rib Vases

 

Blue Opalescent Convex Rib vase, circa 1900-1906, 
with speckled cranberry frit.

photos by scott0228

Convex Rib.   A Convex Rib vase has a widely flared and ruffled mouth and a bottom section that swells outward pronouncedly over an indented base.  The vase shows heavy opalescence toward the rim, while the lower portion is transparent or nearly transparent. Twenty-four ribs run around the vase body in a Swirl Optic pattern that is impressed into the interior of the piece.  Convex Rib vases have appeared on E-Bay in heights ranging from 7" to 8" high.  The vase shown above measures 8" tall, and is 5 1/2" across the top and approximately 3" across the base. 

"Jefferson" Spatter Vases

An illustration from a Jefferson Glass Co. advertisement in an April, 1903
China, Glass & Pottery Review, showing a ruffled vase with a spatter-glass treatment (left).
At right is a vase called "Jefferson Spatter" -- but it might not be a Jefferson piece.

right photo courtesy of 3benterprise

Jefferson Spatter.   As noted above, the name "Jefferson Spatter" was assigned to the vase pattern shown above right by the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass  (see 6th ed., p. 85).  The SEOG documents a Jefferson Spatter vase in canary opalescent, but states that the vases "may have been made in other colors as well."  Both blue and white vases appeared on E-Bay in September, 2008.  The vase shown above is 7 1/2" tall and features an overall mottled or spatter treatment, with white opalescence around the rim.  The rim is pulled into three ruffles that are slightly crimped and which span 4" at the widest point. 

The SEOG's attribution of this pattern to Jefferson is based on its similarity to Jefferson Convex Rib's vases (shown in the preceding section).  Both Convex Rib and "Jefferson Spatter" vases bulge outward near the bottom over an indented base, and both have mouths that are widely ruffled.  Both are also ribbed: according to the SEOG,  "the ribs can actually be felt on the inside" of Jefferson Spatter vases (p. 85).  As noted above in this guide, Convex Rib vases have 24 ribs -- and so do "Jefferson Spatter" vases.  Finally, "Jefferson Spatter" vases have bases measuring approximately 3" in diameter -- they are the exact size and shape of the bases on Convex Rib vases:

  

Photos showing identical bases
of Convex Rib and Jefferson Spatter vases

photos by scott0228 and 3benterprise

All of these details seem to indicate that the two vases came from the same maker, and thus -- if in fact Convex Rib vases were made by Jefferson -- the SEOG's attribution of the Spatter vases to Jefferson seems eminently reasonable.  Nevertheless, we believe that the SEOG is in error and that the ruffled spatter vase featured in the 1903 Jefferson advertisement shown at the top of this section is in fact a different vase:

A Jefferson pink spatter vase, circa 1903
photo by oxbeetle

According to author Bill Banks (E-Bayer ainventor), the pink vase shown here is the "Jefferson Spatter" vase depicted in Jefferson's 1903 advertisement.  The vase is 6 1/2" high with a recessed base measuring 2 1/2".  Its Jack-in-the-Pulpit mouth is crimped rather than ruffled and spans 5" at the widest point.  This vase is not ribbed -- nor is it opalescent:  it is transparent clear glass with a pink spatter treatment.  (An additional example Jefferson's pink splatter glass rose bowl can be seen in ainventor's E-Bay guide at this link).

         Banks also notes that while both the Jefferson Spatter vases and the Convex Rib vases shown in this guide are ribbed, close inspection shows that the ribbing appears in two different patterns on the two vases.  Jefferson Spatter vases have vertical ribs arranged in a Rib Optic pattern, while the ribs on Convex Rib vases are curved in a Swirl Optic pattern. 

Northwood / National Spatter Vases

  

A Snowflake Spatter vase (left),
with a "Jefferson Spatter" vase (right)

photos by ainventor (left) and 3benterprise (right)

           The vase shown above left appears in the sixth edition of the SEOG under the name "Snowflake Spatter" and features what the author describes as "a much finer allover opalescent look" than usually is found on spatterware, "rather like a snowstorm" (p. 136).  This effect is identical to that shown on the "Jefferson Spatter" vase shown above right.  And both vases appear in the same colors:  white, blue-and-white and canary-and-white spatter glass.  

         Author and Victorian opalescent glass expert Bill Banks (aka E-bayer ainventor) believes that both "Snowflake Spatter" and "Jefferson Spatter" vases are in fact products of Northwood/National, from the years when the company was managed by Thomas Dugan (who later would found Dugan Glass).  Banks points to the 1901 advertisement shown below, which appears in Heacock's Dugan-Diamond:  The Story of Indiana, Pennsylvania Glass at p. 34.  The ad features a Northwood / National assortment under the heading, "Our Oriental Assortment:  Novelties in fancy shape colored glass":

Detail illustration from a Northwood/National Glass 
advertisement placed in a March 4, 1901 G. Sommers & Co. catalog:
At left is a "Snowflake Spatter" vase; at right is a "Jefferson Spatter" vase.  

            The vase shown at right in the above ad illustration, which closely resembles a Jefferson Spatter vase, is described in the ad's small print as "Coraline Vase-- Large base and small stem; 7 inches tall; imitating expensive foreign glass; assorted colors". The tall vase on the left side of the Northwood/ National assortment is a "Snowflake Spatter" vase, and is described in the ad's print as "8-inch Flower Vase--Coraline glass:  fancy shape; assorted flint, blue and yellow opalescent".   

            "Coraline" was a trade name, not to be confused with the variety of art glass known as "Coralene".  The term "Coraline" was coined by a Model Flint Glass Company employee named 0. 0. Faull, around 1899, when Model Flint operated under the ownership of National Glass (see Ron Teal's Albany Glass, pp. 19, 27-28).  Coraline was a type of spatter glass whose speckled effect was created through the use of melted glass frit.  Such spatter glass sometimes used a single color frit, and sometimes more than one color of frit:  Coraline pieces are found, for example, with green spatter only; with white spatter only; and in green-and-white, blue-and-white, cranberry-and-white, and canary-and-white combinations. 

          Coraline was issued by both Northwood/National and Moldel Flint/National.  More information about Coraline glass can be found in our guide on Northwood / National celery vases.  A photograph of a blue-and-white Coraline celery vase is documented in Heacock's Dugan-Diamond (p. 82, fig. 172B).

Unanswered Questions

          As mentioned above, the speckled-cranberry frit rims found on Convex Rib vases are a hallmark of Jefferson, and thus the vases may well be a Jefferson rather than a Northwood /National product.  Nevertheless, it is notable that longstanding documentation exists that Northwood/National issued at least two patterns with speckled-frit rims:   Blown Twist celery vases (shown in our guide on Northwood / National celery vases), and Beaded Drapes bowls (shown here in a new ainventor E-Bay guide).  A third Northwood pattern with speckled-cranberry frit edging -- a 5-piece blue opalescent epergne -- appeared in the May, 2009 catalog of the extensive and nationally known glass collection of R. H. Ashmore (see catalog item #68 at:  www.antiquehelper.com/catalog.php?id=235&page=1).  Thus, an argument might be made that the Convex Rib vases shown here are not a Jefferson product at all -- they're Northwood/ National issue.  Convex Rib vases do not appear in Jefferson assortments, while at least one piece in this bulbous shape -- the Spatter vase -- appears in Northwood/ National advertisements.

          Banks has offered an alternative explanation:  In a personal communication, Banks has noted that the solution to the mystery might lie in the sharing of mold-carvers by glass companies.  Mold-carvers who hired out to multiple glass works often produced basic shapes with different variations.  Accordingly, mold carvers might have supplied similar molds with somewhat different ribbing to the Northwood / National and Jefferson glass factories; Jefferson might have used them to make Convex Rib vases, while Northwood / National gave them a spatter-glass treatment.

-- 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

_________ o _________

          Many thanks to E-Bayers  3benterprise,   ainventor  (Bill Banks),  oxbeetle,  scott0228  and  topshelfantiques (Frank & Melissa Keathley),  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) 2008, 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. PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK ON THIS GUIDE BY PRESSING THE BUTTON BELOW.   To read our other guides on carnival and opalescent vases, click on GUIDE INDEX.