Cambridge Glass Square Crystal Comport

Here’s a true original in American made glassware, Square from Cambridge Glass.  Square was one of the last patterns that Cambridge introduce before going out of business in the 1950s and it is different from any of their earlier designs.

You can see the distinctive square foot – it is nearly a cube – that made the pieces stylish and new.  Remember the country was in the middle of the Mid Century Modern look; Swedish crystal was taking the country by storm; shape was all important.  Square fit right in.

Sadly even this pattern, which was reasonably successful, was not enough to keep Cambridge from going under.  The famous glass house, home of Rose Point, Apple Blossom and Chantilly, went out of business in 1954, reopened briefly under different ownership and finally closed for good in 1958.

You may enjoy this interesting article about Cambridge Square published by National Cambridge Collectors, Inc., and written by Phyllis Smith.

I look out for Cambridge Square whenever we shop as it is a fascinating pattern.   We have only one piece in stock, the Square crystal compote shown in the picture.

Our first contestant is a candy dish with lid.

Cambridge Glass Rose Point Etched Crystal Candy

Viking Glass Sonata Etch

Here’s the dish so you can see how the pattern looks on the piece as a whole.

Viking Glass Sonata Etched Crystal Celery

Cherokee Rose Etched Crystal Sherbet

The first one is Rose Point on a candy box. Beautiful piece.

The second is from Viking Glass, one of their few etched patterns. It is called Sonata. I thought of this at the glass club on Tuesday when one of the attendees had a small dish. Sonata is not super common but I suspect more would come to light if we recognized it better.

The third is Cherokee Rose from Tiffin Glass.  Tiffin used some of the same elements as Rose Point – the center medallion, the swags, lavish flower blossoms between each medallion motif – and combined the design with a shaped stem.

Which one do you like better?  Can you please leave a comment with your vote and your quiz answers?

Cambridge Glass Rose Point Etched Crystal Ice Tea Tumbler

If you’re like me you wonder why glass companies would have sold special pieces just for iced tea.  Do people drink enough iced tea to warrant a special stem?  And why isn’t there a special glass for sodas or lemonade?

Elegant glass companies made their beautiful vintage stemware long before soda became a daily drink.  I will show my age here.  When I was a kid my mom bought one large bottle of soda each week and it was a treat for us five kids to divide that soda among all of us.  (A large bottle held about 40 ounces.)  We had a rule that the person who poured the soda was the last one to pick their glass.

A few companies did make special pieces for lemonade, usually these were tumblers with handles.  Companies made iced teas as a matter of course in their stemware patterns.

Iced tea tumblers are larger than a traditional water tumbler, holding about 12 ounces, and some look more like goblets with long bowls and short stems.  This Rose Point ice tea is a good example.  It is on Cambridge Glass’ line 3121, which is their largest and most often found Rose Point stemware.  Can you see the round ball near the bottom of the stem and the little glass curlicues that hold the ball?  That’s line 3121 with its sets of three curlicues around the stem.

Bill, of Affordable Accoutrements, showed off his Rose Point stemware in his recent Tablescape Thursday post.  You can see how great this etched crystal looks with china.

We bought several pieces of Rose Point, including ice tea tumblers and water goblets, for our personal use.  We use the ice teas for ice water and the goblets for wine, or put iced tea or soda in the tumblers and water in the goblets.  It works either way and we enjoy using ours on Sundays or when friends come over.  Using vintage stemware makes the meal special.

Shopping Information:  We sell Rose Point crystal in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  It is one of the patterns we specialize in.  We know first hand how important glass is to you.

Rose Point Etched Crystal 3121 Water Goblet from Cambridge Glass

Rose Point is special to me.  My mom and dad got a few pieces for wedding gifts but didn’t have enough to use and this sat in their buffet cupboard for many years.  When I started working with glass in 1999 I found their pieces and was so surprised they had such pretty glass they didn’t use.  In the meantime they had bought contemporary stemware so mom wasn’t interested in having me get her any more Rose Point.

My brother has their pieces now but Dave and I liked it so much we bought a set of 8 goblets and tumblers for us.  It matches my mom’s silverware and looks stunning with either our Blue Willow or Franciscan Apple dinnerware.

The goblet I’m showing is part of my inventory for sale – I don’t mix our personal glass with my business inventory – and that’s another story.  Rose Point is always expensive and for a long time I avoided buying it for resale because of its cost.  In the past few years I’ve stretched a bit to buy better glass, like Rose Point, and find it sells well.  My margins are a bit lower but that’s a trade off.

Recently I realized my Rose Point inventory was sadly depleted and was able to get several pieces including more water goblets  like the one shown here.  Cambridge etched Rose Point on many stemware blanks, with line 3121 shown here the most common.  You can see a ball on the lower part of the stem held by three beads.  That’s distinctive.  Notice the beads on three sides on the upper part of the stem.  Some comports have only the three sided beads and not the ball.  Bill of Affordable Accoutrements showed a comport this week which is the 3121 sans ball.  Be sure to check his post out for wonderful table settings.

I’ve several more Rose Point pieces to list, including the tall sherbets, plates and ice tea tumblers.  They are all wonderful pieces of elegant glass.

Buying guide:  If you like Rose Point please check my store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  It’s like antiquing with your best friend.

Cambridge Neodymium Heatherbloom Orchid Lavender Glass Sugar Bowl

Isn’t this a pretty thing?  It’s even nicer in person.  This light pink amethyst color is called Heatherbloom and what makes this so interesting is that the glass changes color slightly under different lighting.  With normal light it is a lovely rose amethyst orchid color like the picture.  Under fluorescent light it is more lavender with a definite blue tone.  Cambridge used neodymium in the color formula to give this effect.

The sugar bowl itself is very nice, a good fit for the pretty color.  This is Cambridge’s 3400 line, which has curlicue handles, scalloped foot and rim, and vertical triangles rising up from the foot.  We’ve got this listed in our store Catladykate’s Elegant and Depression Glass on the TIAS antique mall.

Cambridge Glass Achilles Cut Vintage Stemware

Recently Esmeralda R contacted me for help identifying her glass.  She found my Cambridge Rose Point etched stemware on the 3121 blank, which has the three knobs you see in this photo and is distinctive.  She sent me one photo and I was able to identify the cutting as Achilles by Cambridge.

This is nice stemware!  I wish I had some for her.  Replacements has a few pieces and I referred her to them.

Every week I get several requests like Esmeralda’s and sometimes we both luck out and I can help.  Sometimes not.

If you have glass you would like help with, I am willing to try provided it is something in the general area that we carry, depression glass, etched glass, not art glass or Early American Pattern Glass.   Please be courteous and ask first and send only one photo that is under 1 mb in size.  I cannot accept emails with multiple large files as they crash my inbox.  My other requirement is that I like to show some of these to you, my glass-loving readers.

It’s fun to identify glass!

Cambridge Elegant Depression Glass Urn Swag Etched Green Console Bowl

Isn’t this a gorgeous bowl? It has a rolled rim that flips up at the ends and four tab feet, quite a nice, unusual shape. To top it off, the etch is big urns surrounded by paisley shaped swags and scrolls that repeat around the rim. Console bowls with rolled rims are great to show off the beautiful etches and gorgeous colored glass of the depression era.

This bowl is Cambridge, etch number 739, made during the early part of the 1930s, true elegant depression glass. Cambridge made several etches during this period that don’t have names, only line numbers. You’ll find this one with urns, and another with big splashy flower or sunburst that is called Majestic. They are both beautiful designs that look much better in person on emerald green glass than in a book.

One of the gentlemen at the local flea market saves me glass and this is one of the pieces I got from him. He knows I cannot resist etched green bowls!

Cambridge Etch 701 Goblet - Basket and Swag

Isn’t this  a pretty etch?  It has flower baskets alternating with tassels all connected by generous swags and an intricate border above.   For some reason Cambridge Glass didn’t have a pattern name for this, which is a shame as it is one of their more notable etchings.  We are showing the water goblet which has a narrow vertical optic that gives the stem extra shimmer and looks.

I’m partial to basket etches as are many others.  In fact I bought this thinking it was Tiffin’s Diane pattern, which is somewhat similar, also with a basket, but found it was Cambridge when the glass arrived and I could examine the etching.

I’m not aware of other Cambridge basket etches besides this and Portia, and Portia has a squarish shape to it with flowers spilling from an urn and overflowing.  This is quite distinctive with the swag and top border.

We found vintage stemware to be a welcome wedding gift and you can give it with the wish for an equally long and happy marriage.