ID GUIDE, Part I:

MISCELLANEOUS  OPALESCENT  VASES (1898-1912):

   

Green opalescent Northwood's Jewels & Drapery vase,
circa 1907, with view of vase interior

photos by d00dlesb 

Introduction

          This is a reference guide to American pressed-glass opalescent vases manufactured at end of the Victorian Era, around the turn of the century (1898-1912).  The guide focuses on "conventionally-shaped" vases (as opposed to footed, novelty and celery vases), with the intent of aiding buyers and sellers in distinguishing and identifying similar-looking early American opalescent vases. 

           During the late 1800's and early 1900's, a number of American glassworks issued opalescent pressed glass vases.  Most of these firms were centered in Middle America, and included such companies as Albany Flint, Co-operative Flint, Chicago Flint, Dugan & Diamond, Fenton, Jefferson, Model Flint and Northwood.  Opalescent pressed glass was made by adding bone ash to the glass while it was still molten, and by fusing and repeatedly firing layers of transparent and translucent glass until the edges took on a milky translucence.  Such opalescent glass typically shows a fiery reddish opalescence when held up to a light.  (Excellent photographs of an opalescent pressed-glass vase held against sunlight can be viewed in our glass glossary under opalescent glass.) 

          Opalescent vases of this period appear most often in white, green, blue, and aqua (a light blue-green).  Less commonly, such vases are found in the a purplish shade sometimes referred to as "cranberry opalescent" or "amethyst opalescent".  A variety of glassworks also issued opalescent vases in a bright yellow called  "canary."  Due to its uranium content, canary opalescent glass fluoresces bright yellow-green under a black light.          

          Part I of this guide features the following vase patterns:  Chicago Flint's Frosted Leaf & Big Basketweave; a vase pattern of unknown origin, called Honeycomb; Northwood's Jewels & Drapery;  Model Flint's Many Ribs; and Northwood's identically named Many Ribs.   Part II  features six additional vases:  Dugan's Plain Panel; a similar vase known as Plain Panels, issued by Northwood; Cooperative Flint's Ray vase; Model Flint's Ribbed Spiral; Fenton's Ring Optic; and Tiny Tears, a vase of unknown origin.

          If you're having trouble identifying an early opalescent vase, and don't see it here, try our 5-part guide titled "Carnival & Opalescent Glass Twins" which focuses on opalescent vase patterns that later resurfaced in carnival glass form; and our 5-part guide on early opalescent vases issued by the Jefferson Glass Company.   Both guide series can be accessed by clicking "GUIDES INDEX" at the bottom of this page.  These guides have been made possible by the many E-Bayers who have contributed photographs to this project.

Photographic Gallery of Opalescent Vases

Frosted Leaf & Big Basketweave
blue opalescent whimsey vase, circa 1901-1911,
made by the Chicago Flint & Lime Glass Co.

photo by unclechamps 

Frosted Leaf & Big Basketweave.  The Chicago Flint & Lime Glass Company of Chesterton, Indiana, was founded in 1901 and specialized in pressed opalescent glass.  Chicago Flint operated at full capacity until 1905 and thereafter produced glass sporadically until 1911, when an explosion closed down the glassworks permanently.  Chicago Flint issued the Frosted Leaf and Basketweave pattern in a variety of shapes, including spooners, which were sometimes "whimseyed" into taller vases like the one shown above.  A whimsey is a piece pulled from a mold intended for production of another shape; whimseys were often one-of a kind, or were issue in very limited production.  According to the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 186, Chicago Flint's Frosted Leaf & Big Basketweave whimsey vases are "very hard to find".  The above vase is from E-Bayer unclechamps' collection, which contains more than 700 opalescent vases.  Frosted Leaf & Big Basketweave vases, which measure from 9 1/2" to 11", were issued in white, blue and canary opalescent pressed glass. 

 

Green opalescent Honeycomb vase,
with details of mouth and base

photos by johnsmolen

Honeycomb Vase.  This pressed-glass vase features a stretched honeycomb pattern of interlocking hexagons.  The rim of the vase is unusual -- it has nine points, each with three small knobs.  The skirt of the vase has nine petals, which have a pressed ribbed pattern on the underside that shows through the petals when they are viewed from above.  The vase's base features a pressed, many-rayed star set inside the border of ribbed petals.  At least three shapes appear in the Honeycomb pattern:  an oil lamp, a footed bowl, and the vase -- which appears to have been pulled from the bowl's mold.  The vases appear in white, blue and green opalescent.  Green is the most valuable color, followed by blue and then white.  The standard-size vases appearing on E-Bay in 2007-2008 have had bases measuring 3 5/8", and heights between 12 and 12 1/4".   We've only seen one example of this vase in squatty size:  a squatty white opalescent Honeycomb vase measuring 5 3/4" tall surfaced on E-Bay in August, 2008; the vase was discovered by E-Bayer lucas676902fj. 

According to Opalescent Glass from A-Z, rev. ed. (2000), p. 68, William Heacock originally attributed this pattern to the West Virginia Company Hobbs, Brockunier.  Joann Elmore, the editor who posthumously revised Heacock's works, notes, however, that the pattern may have been made by another company --  possibly Phoenix, Northwood, Dugan or even a British glass works.  Edwards and Carwile, authors of The Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., p. 85, write that the pattern is called Hobbs Honeycomb by many collectors.  "The more we see of this pattern," the SEOG's authors nonetheless note, "the more we are convinced it was made by someone else."  Edwards & Carwile call the pattern "Honeycomb," and record that it also goes by the name "Oval Honeycomb."  The authors feature the vase in the SEOG's section on vases manufactured between 1880 and 1930. 

  

An aqua opalescent Jewels & Drapery Vase, standard size,
with a green squatty vase, and details of the jewel pattern rimming the base

photos by Glass Pack Rat (left)
and d00dlesb (right and center)

Jewels & Drapery (Northwood).  The Northwood Glass company of Wheeling, West Virginia produced a variety of early opalescent vases from 1902 to 1908.  Among these were Jewels & Drapery vases, which the company first issued in 1907.  The Jewels & Drapery pattern features drapery-like folds that extend from the vase's rim to its base.  The vase's bottom edge is ringed with a circlet of raised dots or "jewels," surrounded by pinpoint dots, and the base's underside is smooth glass.  Jewels & Drapery vases are found in blue, green, aqua and white opalescent glass.  Blue is the most valuable, followed by green and aqua, which are equally valuable, and then white.  Vases appear in a squatty size (shown at page top), and in a standard size (shown directly above), in heights ranging from 7" to 12".  The squatty vase shown here is 7" tall and the standard is 11".  Both have base diameters of 3 3/4".

In Harry Northwood: The Wheeling Years, pp. 33-34, William Heacock features pages of 1906 Lyon Brothers catalogs that show Jewels & Drapery vases under the name "Venetian Opalescent".  The catalog also displays a variant of the Jewels & Drapery pattern, in which a row of pendants hang just above the vase's bottom rim, below the circlet of jewels.  Both the Jewels & Drapery vase and its variant are referenced in the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., at p. 93.  Northwood also issued Jewels & Drapery vases in clear and green crystal in 1907; samples appeared on E-Bay in March, 2007 (green) and March 2008 (clear).  Only one known specimen of this pattern exists in carnival glass:  it is an emerald green vase with "a soft radium iridescence," featured on p. 149 of the Standard Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass, 10th ed., p. 149.  The Jewels & Drapery pattern also appears in novelty bowl shapes, in vaseline, blue, aqua, green and white.

Many Ribs vases, made by Model Flint circa 1902
photos by curculiosglass (left) and t-rextreasures (right)

Many Ribs (Model Flint).  This vase is a product of the Model Flint Glass Company of Albany, Indiana.  The Model Flint Glass Company was a short-lived glassworks whose production years just barely extended into the Twentieth Century.  Model Flint Glass opened in 1888 in Findlay, Ohio, and in 1893, the company relocated to Albany, Indiana.  (Accordingly, Model Flint Glass is often referred to as "Albany Glass".)  In 1900, the Model Flint plant became part of the National Glass Company.  Before closing in 1902, Flint/National produced a number of opalescent patterns, among them the Many Ribs vase featured above, and the Ribbed Spiral vase (shown in Part II), which is a precursor to the widely-collected carnival glass Ripple vase.  

Many Ribs vases have a distinctive design of 18 wide ribs:  6 tall ribs alternate with 6 pairs of slightly shorter ribs.  The mouths of Many Ribs vases are slightly flared, and they have a marie base that is divided into three concentric sections; the base's underside is smooth and patternless.  Model Flint issued Many Ribs vases in three colors:  white, blue and (shown above) canary.  Blue and canary are equally valuable, followed by white.  The intensity of the coloring varies from one vase to the next;  according to Ron Teal, author of Albany Glass, p. 44, this variation resulted from the degree to which the vases were "swung" or stretched.  Although they are rarely featured in standard well-known works on canary glass, Model Flint's Many Ribs canary opalescent vases fluoresce bright green under a black light.  The vase shown here above right measures 8" high and has a 3" base; the vase at left, a somewhat darker yellow, is 7 1/2" high.  Model Flint's Many Ribs vases are referenced on p. 103 of the Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed. 

Only one known specimen of a carnival glass Model Flint Many Ribs vase exists:  the iridescent vase is aqua opal, and stands 7 1/2" tall with a 3 1/16" base.  The vase is in the collection of Don and Becky Hamlet; a photograph of the vase is featured at David Doty's website (ddoty.com/miniribs.html).  Doty conjectures that the carnival vase may have been made, oddly enough, by Northwood.

Many Ribs vase, made by Northwood circa 1902-1908
photos courtesy of stlouisredbirds

Northwood's Many Ribs.  Although this vase bears the same name as the Model Flint vase above, the two are quite different.  Northwood's Many Ribs vase features a flared mouth and much narrower parallel ribs that run from the very edge of the vase's top rim to the bottom edge of its base.  The ribs are visible and raised on the exterior of the vase, but cannot be detected by touch on the interior.  Vases may show a pronounced fiery opalescence.  Northwood's Many Ribs vases are found in sizes ranging from 9" to 13"; the above vase is 11" tall.  The diameters of the bases measure 3 3/4" and bear a rayed star with 32 points.  The vases appear in blue, canary, green and white opalescent.  Blue is the most valuable, followed by green and canary, which are equally valuable, and then white.  Northwood's Many Ribs vases are featured in The Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, 5th ed., at p. 109.  H. Northwood & Co. made opalescent glass from 1902-1908, and so this vase pattern presumably dates from that period.  The photograph of the Many Ribs vase shown above will look very familiar to carnival glass collectors, because this opalescent pattern closely resembles Northwood's Fine Rib carnival vases.  (The carnival vases have 3 1/2" bases and more pronounced ribs; they can be viewed at ddoty.com/fineribnw.html).

Similar vases:   In opalescent glass, many similar vases exist:  care should be taken not to confuse Northwood's Many Ribs vases with Fenton's extremely rare opalescent Fine Rib vase.  The Fenton vase similarly features narrow vertical ribs, but it also has a distinctive 1/2" band that runs around the top rim, which Northwood's Many Ribs vases do not.  On E-Bay, Northwood's Many Ribs vase is frequently confused with Northwood's opalescent Thin & Wide Rib vase, as well as with ribbed vases made by the Jefferson Glass Company.  To compare Northwood's Many Ribs vase to similar vases, see additional photos in our guide on easily confused ribbed vases. 

 Click here to continue on to  Part II.

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Many thanks to E-bayers  d00dlesb,   jmpqt2u (Glass Pack Rat),  johnsmolen, stlouisredbirds, t-rexteasures and unclechamps,  for generously contributing photographs to this part of our 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 FEEDBACK ON THIS GUIDE BY PRESSING THE BUTTON BELOW.   To access our other guides, just click here:  GUIDES INDEX.