Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal 4-Toed Wing Handled Large Salad Bowl

Looking for that perfect large bowl for your specialty salad and want something out of the ordinary with looks and pizazz?  When I look at this beautiful etched crystal bowl I think Caesar salad – you know, full of crisp romaine lettuce, all garlicky and crunchy croutons.  The handles would make it easy to hold (the bowl is well balanced) and pass around the table, always assuming I want to share.

When Fostoria made this piece they showed it as part of a console set.  Console sets were decorations that had a big bowl and two candle holder that people set on a side table.  That’s a nice idea, but today we look for glass that is not only decorative but useful too.  I expect that the lucky person who buys this will leave it displayed on a table or on their shelf and get it out when they want a special bowl for salad or fruit.  We use a glass bowl for melon balls with blackberries and blueberries in the summer that looks fabulous.

A piece like this makes a superb wedding gift to the new couple or an anniversary gift for those who enjoy fine home furnishings with a vintage touch.

We specialize in Chintz etched glassware from Fostoria and have a good selection.  Shopping with us is like antiquing with your best friend.  We love glass and we want to share our enjoyment with others.  See us at Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass for Chintz and other beautiful patterns from Fostoria, Cambridge and depression glass makers.

Cambridge Glass Etch 727 Green Elegant Depression Console Bowl

Recently Bill of Affordable Accoutrements, who writes the most enjoyable blog posts about his imaginative tablescapes, mentioned that he prefers elegant glass to depression glass.  That got me thinking.  Which do you prefer?  Which do I prefer?

For me it’s not as easy a choice as it once was.  When I first started with glass my top 1, 2 and 3 would have been elegant glass.  I appreciated the handwork that went into making these, the skilled craftsmanship, high quality and great clarity and the gorgeous designs.  How can you beat an etched pattern like the Cambridge green bowl?

The more I worked with depression glass the more I liked it.  Here’s why.

Depression glass is colored and the transparent greens, blues, ambers, yellows and pinks are beautiful spots of color.  Glass looks wonderful when it catches the light and depression glass adds its charming colors.

Depression glass has some truly beautiful patterns.  The piece below is a simple sherbet from Hazel Atlas, Florentine Poppy 1 green depression glass.  The pattern is mold etched so it can be mass produced, but isn’t this a pretty design?

Florentine Poppy 2 Green Depression Glass Cup

But I keep coming back to the colors.  It’s the colors in depression glass that have the siren call.

What about elegant glass?  Isn’t there elegant glass that is colored?  Yes, of course.  Top end glass makers like Fostoria, Cambridge and Tiffin went headlong into the colored ware during the early 1930s.

In fact, that’s why this post started off with the Cambridge green console bowl, elegant colored glass of the depression era.  Wow, what a great compromise!   We can have beautiful colors, high end workmanship, gorgeous design and great quality.   That’s what you call a happy ending.

Fostoria Glass Versailles Etched Green Flared Console Bowl

I was thinking this evening about what are my favorite pieces and this is definitely in the running.  This is stunning and the photo does not come close to showing how the deep green glass shows off the fan and scroll etch or how the three footed triangle shape is perfect.

Fostoria etched Versailles on green, blue, pink and amber.  I have all three colors listed – Versailles is one of the patterns we specialize in – and vacillate between the green and the blue as my favorite.  Green?  Blue?? Both?  I don’t care for the pink as much.

Fostoria made Versailles from 1928 to 1936, so through the first half of the difficult depression period.  They used the Fairfax blank for stemware which has clear crystal foot and stem and colored bowl.  The stemware is choice.  I have a few piece – it sells quickly although it’s rather pricey.

If you want to own a spectacular centerpiece you could try this bowl with two of the matching candles.  You don’t need the candles to have a beautiful display although they look superb flanking the bowl as a console set.  Fostoria made several shapes of candles in Versailles and the green ones we have look like miniature bowls with three tab feet.  They match the bowl and the group together is a sight to see!

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!

Lancaster Glass Cane Ladrum Topaz Low Console Bowl

A few days ago we showed off one of my favorite pieces, a green console bowl with a rolled rim and Central Glass Balda etch.   Console bowls are one of the signature peices of the depression era and today we’re showing you a different type altogther.  

This is the low console bowl in Lancaster Glass’ Cane Landrum topaz yellow depression glass.  This looks like etched glass but the design is actually raised.  Lancaster Glass made many patterns that required some hand work – including cut patterns like Jubilee – and they made intricate mold etched glass like this that was mass produced.  

Much of Lancaster’s depression glass had this type of scallop and point design.  They made topaz yellow, a soft beautiful pink, some green and clear glass.  They didn’t produce many completely different lines with different shaped pieces but they creatively used a couple dozen designs and decorations on about 10 different shapes, resulting in many beautiful pieces with graceful swooping shapes and appealing designs.

You have lots of choices with console bowls:   Do you want them flared?  Do you want green, golded topaz, amber, clear crystal, pink or blue?  What sort of etching?  You can even decide to get oval bowls, square bowls or round!

The bowl shown is from Central Glass with their Balda etching, a very nice piece in a color that you will not find often with this etching.