Program: Grecian Gold
by Tom Limback
Grecian Gold was not a Fenton treatment that I ever seriously considered collecting. A glass dealer had bought a collection of glass which also include several pieces of Grecian Gold. Since Grecian Gold was not a prime seller for him, he asked me if I would be interested in the Grecian Gold pieces since he knew I collected Fenton. So, I accepted his invitation to have ‘first choice’ on the Grecian Gold having no intention of buying it. Fast forward 6 years…I now have a fairly decent collection of Grecian Gold, primary the pieces with the cutting on them. It has become one of my more casual collections adding to my collection only when a piece grabs my attention and not seriously searching it out! This program will focus on the etched Grecian Gold pieces.
Grecian Gold is an early, mid nineteen-twentyish, Fenton treatment which does not normally garnish a lot of attention. Grecian Gold normal vacillates between the boundary of stretch glass and carnival glass. The crystal glass is sprayed with a metallic spray which appears as a brilliant gold marigold sheen on crystal. Is Grecian Gold considered a stretch glass or a carnival glass. Mike Carwile in his Carnival glass 11th Edition on page 6 has a good discussion on the subject…section Carnival or Stretch Glass. While the techniques used for carnival glass and stretch glass are very similar, the results have a very different appearance. …the main difference that sets stretch glass apart from its carnival glass cousin is the lack of pattern, onion skin look… Grecian Gold normally has neither a pattern nor onion skin effect. Grecian Gold also may be confused with carnival Marigold glass, the difference being the Grecian Gold base is a non-patterned glass will be crystal and the carnival Marigold treatment being the metallic spray over glass with a pattern glass with the base glass being crystal or another color glass. Also, Grecian Gold was in production 5-10 years after carnival was in Fenton’s production line.
One outstanding characteristic seen on Grecian Gold is Grecian Gold may have a professional cut design where the design is cut thru the marigold sheen into the crystal glass. This characteristic does greatly enhance the attractiveness of the cut pieces. There are 3 primary cut designs which I will refer to as: grape and vine, daises and branch and daisy and laurel leaf.
Probably at the top of the list for cutting items are the water and juice sets. The cutting may be 12-point daisy encircled by the branch cutting as shown on the slender #3700 12” pitcher. The water set also may be found on the same #3700 12” pitcher with the grape and vine cutting where a cluster of grapes are hanging from vine. The slender 215 8” juice pitcher has a yet much more detailed grape and vine cutting. The #3600 jug 7” pitcher(not shown) may also be found with the grape and vine cutting. I have never seen the daisy and branch design cut on the #3600 jug. These 4 pitchers are seen with the applied crystal handle. Just a note…the carnival glass enthusiasts do not consider these as part of carnival glass…but a good place to find the sets are in the carnival auctions list. Tumblers may accompany these waters sets will also have the corresponding cutting. Tumblers normally accompanying these sets may be the 4 “ or 5 “ flat tumblers. In addition, the #3600 pitcher may be accompanied by the barrel tumbler again with the grape and vine cutting.
Another water or juice set that may be found in the Grecian Gold treatment are the 3-ring beverage sets. The elusive 3-ring 8 ½” juice set and the 3-ring 9”water set can be found with 5-point daisy and laurel leaf cutting around the upper side of the pitchers. The 3 ring pitchers are also enhanced with a striking cobalt blue handle. The 3-ring 9” water pitcher is accompanied by the 3-ring 5 ¼ inch tumbler whereas the 3-ring 8½”juice set is accompanied by the 3-ring 4 inch straight sided tumbler.
These cuttings are not limited to the water sets but may appear on other items. The night set, the tumble up, the bathroom accessories, salt jars, colognes, vases and candy jars may also have these cut designs. The fan vase and cigarette box shown have a slightly different daisy and leaf cutting on them.
Another popular item, especially one that is collectable, are the Grecian Gold candlesticks. The 749 12”, the 649 10” and the 549 8” round base candle sticks do not have a cut design but do have a pattern and can be found with a two-color combination. The two-color combination normally has the Grecian Gold candle stick with either a Persian Pearl or a cobalt blue base….a very striking combination! I have never seen the 749 12” candlestick in a two-color combination. I always thought I had the 8” two-color combination until I recently unpacked them. They were the 10 “ two-color combination. Now I am on the lookout for the 8” Grecian Gold and cobalt blue two-color combination.
I would be amiss and not giving due notice to the 10” oval cut 349 pair! I think this outstanding pair of the Grecian Gold will stand-up against any of the other Fenton oval cut candlesticks. The oval cut back into the crystal provide a nice contrast against the gold sheen of the candle sticks.
Program: Blue Opalescent Rib Optic
by Tom Limback
The focus of this article will be on Blue Opalescent Rib Optic for the August Fenton Finders program. The Blue Opalescent Rib Optic product line is different than the Blue Opalescent Swirl Optic. The rib optic has vertical optics. The swirl optics have swirl optics that normally start from the bottom left and curve to the upper right.
I never really gave much thought about the production of the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic line. The date of production for the Blue Opalescent swirl optic was 1939. Most references to the date of the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic line are as a passing reference to the swirl optic alluding that the production of both optics were in the late 1930’s. Actually, the date of production for Blue Opalescent Rib Optic is hard to determine due to the company production records for the 1920’s for this rib optic are not available.
The current reference material mentions the production of the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic is the late 1930’s. I think the production date for the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic is more in line with the early to mid-1920’s rather than the late 1930’s. My reasoning for this is that the available pieces are more associated with molds in the production line of the 1920’s rather than the molds in the production lines of the late 1930’s. Blue Opalescent Rib Optic items such as the #220 and #222 water sets, #2 creamer and sugar, #401 tumble-up, #1502 guest set, and 891 12” vase are of the same molds as the items in the different stretch line such as the Celeste Blue, Topaz Stretch and Velva Rose Stretch lines produced in the 1920’s.
For the August program the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic pieces I have will be discussed. For this article I will focus mainly on the water sets. Another article later this fall will be the focus of other items available in the Blue Opalescent Rib Optic line.
Shown are 4 of the blue rib optic water sets with different tumblers, bases and coasters available in the early1920’s. These are the same sets available in the stretch line. The Blue Opalescent Rib Optic water sets also came with a striking applied cobalt handle as was available on the stretch water sets but also came with the applied translucent blue handle. Other water sets either with the cobalt blue handles and cobalt blue coasters or the translucent blue handles paired with the translucent blue coasters make a striking water set.
The first set with the applied cobalt handles is the #222 ice tea set consisting of the #222 ice tea tankard with the applied cobalt handle paired with a cobalt blue base and the #222 tumblers with the applied cobalt handles paired with the cobalt coasters for the tumblers.
The next set is the #220 water set with the applied cobalt handles consisting of the #220 pitcher/cover paired with the cobalt pitcher coaster(not base) and the #220 tumblers paired with the cobalt tumbler coasters.
The picture to the right features two #222 Blue Opalescent Rib Optic tankards. The one on the left has the light Blue transparent handle and the one on the left a Cobalt handle. The Cobalt handle ice tea tankard, depending on the source of light, might appear as a misleading black handle.
The next set is the #222 ice tea tankard with the applied transparent Blue handle and the #222 tumblers without any handles. I bought this set, as shown, from Tom Smith about a month before his passing. When I bought the set, he made a casual comment that he had never sold this set before. I thought to myself, this ice tea tankard is not that scarce. It took me a couple of weeks staring at tankard before I realized Tom was referring to the applied transparent blue handle.
The last set is the #220 pitcher/cover with the #222 (not #220) tumblers both with the applied transparent blue handles. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to find one #222 tumbler with the applied transparent blue handle. I kept telling myself there’s got to be more than one tumbler. Recently I found the water set of the #220 pitcher/cover with 4 #222 tumblers with applied transparent blue handles paired with the transparent blue coasters. Since the set was from a private non-collector, I assume that was the way the original set was sold and purchased. Just a FYI. Since this #220 water set was purchased with the #222 tumblers it may be the #220 tumblers with the applied transparent blue handles don’t exist. If they do exist, they are quite elusive. I’d appreciate it if anyone owns or has seen the #220 tumbler with the applied translucent handle that you would drop me note at telimback@aol.com.
Probably one of the most elusive Fenton pieces in the rib optic line is the syrup pitcher with the applied cobalt handle. I think there are less than 3 or 4 known. In the photo above it is shown sitting next to the #220 pitcher to show the size reference.
The syrup cover is not plain but has the same shape and panels as the larger #220 pitcher cover. I took a closeup of the syrup cover to show the panels on the cover since it is hard to distinguish the panels on top of the syrup pitcher. Inside the pitcher are also the elongated panels which gives the syrup the opalescent vertical ribs when reheated.
When first seen, I thought maybe the syrup pitcher was the 1924 creamer. Evidently this syrup pitcher has its own number. When compared to the 1924 French opalescent creamer, the syrup pitcher was at least ½ inch taller. The syrup pitcher’s bottom circumference is about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch wider than the 1924 French opalescent creamer. The syrup cover did not fit inside the 1924 French opalescent creamer.
