This is Part A of a six-part reference guide to early opalescent glass vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company.  Vase patterns shown in Part A include  Diamond & Oval Thumbprint, Heatherbloom, Inverted Chevron,  Lined Heart, Rib & Big Thumbprints, and Jefferson's Wide Rib.    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"  at the bottom of this page. This guide was made possible by the many E-Bayers who contributed photographs to the project.

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

by curculiosglass


 

Jefferson's Wide Rib vase with speckled cranberry frit
photos courtesy of diantiques

INTRODUCTION

           This six-part ID guide features 20 pressed-glass opalescent vases issued by the Jefferson Glass Company of Steubenville, Ohio, circa 1900-1906. To date, there are no comprehensive guides on the history of the Jefferson, a glassworks that produced wonderful novelty items, and which exerted enduring influence on the Northwood glass company and invented several patterns Northwood later issued in carnival glass.  By far, the best summary of the history of Jefferson Glass can be found in David A. Peterson's Vaseline Glass:  Canary to Contempory (2002), pp. 181-184.

          According to Peterson, the Jefferson Glass Company was founded in 1900 by four partners -- Harry Barstow, George Mortimer, Grant Fish and J.D. Sinclair.  Initially the company was located in Steubenville, Ohio, the county seat of Jefferson County, from which the company took its name.  The company remained in Steubenville until 1907.  From 1900-1906, Jefferson specialized in the making of opalescent pressed glass.  An early advertisement Jefferson placed in the December 13, 1900 Crockery & Glass Journal proclaimed that their opalescent glass was "better and cheaper than imported".  The January, 1901 China, Glass & Pottery Review announced that "the company was formed to manufacture fancy glassware, which heretofore has had to be imported.  There is nothing too fine for the Jefferson capacity."

          William Heacock has chronicled Jefferson's brief history in Harry Northwood:  The Wheeling Years 1901-1925 (p. 157).  Heacock writes that in 1906-1907, the Jefferson Glass Company changed location to a site five miles away in Follansbee, West Virginia.  Jefferson leased its old Steubenville plant to the Imperial Glass Company, but at the end of the year, the plant was destroyed in a fire.  After Jefferson's relocation from Steubenville, its Follansbee site specialized in producing non-opalescent crystal until closing its doors in 1933.  Jefferson also briefly operated a plant in Toronto called the Jefferson Glass Co. Ltd. of Toronto, which produced the same lines of glass as the Follansbee plant from 1912-1914. 

          According to Heacock, Jefferson sold many of its opalescent glass molds to the Northwood Glass Company upon relocating to Follansbee.  For this reason, quite a few of Jefferson's early opalescent glass patterns are familiar to carnival glass collectors -- Vintage, Fine Cut & Roses, Meander and Ruffles & Rings are all Jefferson patterns used later on Northwood carnival glass.  Many of Jefferson's opalescent vase patterns, however, vanished with company's relocation and never resurfaced in the carnival era.  Jefferson's early opalescent vases thus tend to be quite distinctive and unlike anything that appeared later in a century of American glass production. 

            This section of our guide, Part A,  focuses on early opalescent Jefferson vases that have the conventional vase shape (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 in 2006 and 2007.  These include Diamond & Oval Thumbprint, Heatherbloom, Inverted Chevron,  Lined Heart, Rib & Big Thumbprints, and  Jefferson's Wide Rib.  Part B of this guide features Jefferson vases that are "whimseys," that is, vases shaped from non-vase molds.  Part C documents Jefferson's novelty vases;  Part D focuses on Jefferson's Jack-in-the Pulpit vases;  Part E shows Jefferson's striped vases, and Part F features bulbous vases.

PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE to Jefferson Vases 

Green Diamond & Oval Thumbprint Vase
photos by curculiosglass (left) and 327phantom62 (right)

Diamond & Oval Thumbprint.   Referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 53, Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases were produced by Jefferson Glass in 1904.  According to William Heacock in  Opalescent Glass from A to Z,  the pattern was given its name by Marion Hartung, who wrote in her book Opalescent Pattern Glass that the Jefferson vase was "not very distinguished," but had "a certain charm of its own".  The 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.  Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases vary in size from 6" to 14" tall; the vase shown here has a base diameter of 3 1/2".  On the taller vases, the oval thumbprints may be so stretched that they are difficult to discern.  The mouths of Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases are ruffled, and may be slightly or widely flared.  The vases were produced in blue, green and white opalescent glass, and are hardest to find and most valuable in green.  In July, 2008, a Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase in bright sapphire blue transparent (non-opalescent) glass surfaced on E-Bay.  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, but neither of these companies produced vases in Bubble Lattice. The bases of Jefferson's Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vases bear a distinctive geometric design that aids greatly in identifying the pattern.  (A photograph of a Diamond & Oval Thumbprint vase's base can be viewed in our guide on  vase bases). 

      

Heatherbloom vase in squatty and stretched sizes
photos by curculiosglass

Heatherbloom.  This is a striking pattern:  opalescent lines that resemble the edges of jagged leaves streak upward from the vase's base to its rim. Heatherbloom vases, also known as Jefferson #268, were produced by Jefferson in 1905.  They range in size from squat vases such as the 7" size shown above, to swung taller vases of up to 14".  Both vases shown here have a base diameter of 3 1/2".  William Heacock notes in Opalescent Glass from A to Z that the shorter vases tend to show the pattern best.  The vases' mouths are ruffled and may be widely flared as shown above, or slightly flared, and the undersides of the vases' bases bear a cut-glass star.  Heatherbloom vases are referenced on p. 81 of the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., which features a picture of a stretched green opalescent vase.  It is notable that a squatty 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  (p. 64),  however, features a correctly identified Heatherbloom squatty vase identical to the one above.  Heatherbloom vases appear in white, blue and green, with green being the hardest to find.

    

Green Inverted Chevron vase
with details of bottom and top rim
photos courtesy of 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 has a base with a 3" diameter that is smooth and patternless underneath.  The vase is 8" tall.  The authors of the Standard Encylopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 88, write that they have seen Inverted Chevron vases in blue and green only, but note that the pattern must come in white as well.  (A white vase in shown in our "easily confused vases guide," noted below.)  Inverted Chevron vases are most valuable in blue, followed by green, but are a good find in any color.  The SEOG ascribes Inverted Chevron vases to the Jefferson Glass Company (thus setting the date of manufacture between 1901-1906), but the SEOG does so tentatively, while noting that the Inverted Chevron design is virtually identical to the Plume Panels pattern of Fenton's well-known carnival vases.

Similar opalescent vase patterns:  Inverted Chevron vases are sometimes confused with Northwood's Feathers vases, which similarly bear panels of interlocking V's.  In addition, we feel compelled to note that Jefferson's Inverted Chevron vases are so similar to Fenton's opalescent Plume Panels vases that we question the SEOG's assertion that the vases are really two different patterns, rather than one vase issued by one manufacturer.  To see and compare additional photographs of green and white Inverted Chevron vases, as well as Feathers and Plume Panels vases, see our guide on easily confused vases.

          

Blue Lined Heart Vase with Details of Interior and Teardrop Pattern
right and bottom left photos by numberonecaptain; left top by curculiosglass

Lined Heart.   Jefferson issued three ribbed vase patterns:  Lined Heart, Rib & Big Thumbprints, and Twister.  Lined Heart vases feature ribbed sections separated by smooth panels that widen into a teardrop shape at the base, as shown in the above photographs.  According to William Heacock, this pattern received its name from Marion Hartung, who thought that the vases' ribbed or "lined" areas formed heart shapes; this may be difficult to picture even when you're looking at a piece in person, but makes some sense if you see Hartung's sketch of this Jefferson vase:

Sketch of Lined Heart Vase by Marion T. Hartung
 from Opalescent Pattern Glass (Wallace-Homestead Co. 1970)

As Hartung saw it, each ribbed section of a Lined Heart vase terminates in a point at the base, like the bottom point of a heart; at the vase's ruffled top, the lined sections give way to curves like the top curves of a heart.   

          Lined Heart vases were produced from 1906-1907 under the name Jefferson #248, and the pattern is referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., at p. 99.  The vases tend to be transparent near the base and to show heavy opalescence at the opening.  Vase bases bear a many-rayed star underneath, and base diameters tend to range between 3 1/2" to 3 3/4".  The vases range in height from 7" for unswung vases to 14" for swung vases.  According to Marion Hartung in Opalescent Pattern Glass, the short vases such as the one shown in the above photographs and drawing were known as "sweet pea vases".    Lined Heart vases appear in white, blue and green.  Blue and green are equally valuable, followed by white.  Vases in transparent (non-opalescent) sapphire-blue glass also have surfaced on E-Bay.  

         Other ribbed-pattern vases are often misidentified as Lined Heart vases.  This is especially true when the ribbed vase considered has been pulled or stretched to a tall shape that distorts its pattern.  If you think you have a Lined Heart vase,  check it against Jefferson's Diamond & Ribbed Thumbprint vase below; for additional pictures of ribbed opalescent vase patterns, see our guide on easily confused ribbed vases.

   

Green Squatty and Stretched Blue Rib & Big Thumbprints Vases
with Detail Showing Pattern of Four Grouped Ribs
photos of blue vase by jillst

Rib & Big Thumbprints.   This pattern features five vertical columns, each made up of four distinct ribs; between the columns of ribs are panels of three oval "thumbprints".  According to the Standard Encylopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 129, Rib & Big Thumbprints vases first appeared in a 1906 Butler Brothers wholesale catalog in two separate ads -- which listed them as being issued both by Jefferson Glass, and by the Dugan-Diamond Company.  Rib & Big Thumbprints vases appear in both squatty and tall sizes, and were made in blue, green and white opalescent.   Blue is the most valuable, followed by green and then white.  Big Rib & Thumbprint vases bear a many-rayed star on the undersides of the bases.

        Squatty vases show this pattern most clearly.  On stretched Rib & Big Thumbprint vases, the thumbprints may be so elongated that they are difficult to discern.  As a result, sretched vases bearing this pattern are sometimes confused with Jefferson's Lined Heart vases (shown above) and other ribbed vases.  A cursory inspection, however, makes the Rib & Big Thumbprint pattern easy to distinguish:  each ribbed column contains exactly four ribs. Thus, the best way to identify the Rib & Big Thumbprint pattern is to count the number of ribs in each column.  For additional pictures of this vase and similar vases, see our guide on easily confused ribbed vases.

Jefferson's Wide Rib
photos courtesy of diantiques

Jefferson's Wide Rib with Cranberry Frit.   Although Northwood made very similar "Thin & Wide Rib" vases in both opalescent and carnival glass, the beautiful opalescent vase with the speckled-cranberry frit featured above and at page top has been attributed to Jefferson by the Standard Encylopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 170.  The speckled-cranberry frit is characteristic of other well-known Jefferson opalescent patterns, such as Fluted Bars & Beads, Jefferson's Block, Fancy Fantails, Smooth Rib, Swag with Brackets, Convex Rib and Jefferson Stripe.  The SEOG's authors speculate that Jefferson's Wide Rib may be "another of those moulds Northwood obtained from Jefferson and then marked with the Northwood trademark."  Like the vase above discovered by an E-Bay seller, the vase shown in the SEOG is white.  The authors speculate that Jefferson's Wide Rib vase was made in other colors that "may include" blue and cranberry as well.   Jefferson presumably issued this pattern between 1900 and 1907, the years in which the company manufactured opalescent glass.  This beautiful vase is a wonderful find that crops up seldom on E-Bay.  The vase featured here is 11 1/4" tall.  The base measures 3 5/8" and bears a moulded 32-point star.  These vases characteristically have flared mouths with 8 rounded points.

Other Jefferson vase patterns:   Continue on to Part B  in order to view other conventionally-shaped Jefferson opalescent "whimsey" vases made in the patterns known as Iris with Meander, Tokyo and Twister. 

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Jefferson Vase Guide Table of Contents

B. Whimsey vases        C. Novelty vases         D. Jack-in-the Pulpits         E. Striped Vases         F.  Bulbous Vases

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        Many thanks to E-Bayers  327phantom62,  diantiques,  jillst,  numberonecaptain  and  rareandfair  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 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 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.