Fostoria Glass June Etched Topaz Yellow 2-Handled Bowl

We all like to buy memorable wedding gifts, something to help the new couple build their lives together.  But it’s hard to do.  Vintage glass is a perfect way to add a connection to the past, give something unique that the couple can treasure.

When you give vintage glass you give instant connection to the past that give newlyweds a foundation to establish their own family traditions.  The piece shown here is from Fostoria Glass.  This is their June etched small 2-handled bowl that is perfect to display.  But it’s even better for the new couple to use this for holidays and special meals with friends.

Fostoria made June in this luscious topaz yellow that is soft and blends well – no harsh color here.  June etch is on the elegant Fairfax shapes in medium blue, pink and crystal.  It is beautiful in any color and crystal – I like the yellow the best for its cheerful sunny disposition.

This particular bowl is $50, a good price point for wedding or shower gifts.  It’s a perfect way to introduce a special couple to this gorgeous vintage glass.

Buying information:  June bowl and more pieces are in our online store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.

Fostoria Glass Versailles Etched Blue Bouillon Bowl

Is blue your favorite color?  If it is you know that it is not all that common in glass, especially beautiful etched glassware like this bouillon bowl from Fostoria.  I like this shade better than cobalt blue and it looks grand with the etching and clear handles.

Fostoria Glass made Versailles from 1928 to 1944 in this lovely blue, a gorgeous green, pretty amber and pink.  I have all three colors in my store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass since this is one of the patterns I try to keep in stock, but I can’t make up my mind whether the blue or the green is prettier.  And the amber is nice too….

Are you wondering what a bouillon cup is?  What, you mean you don’t have a separate piece to serve clear soup as an appetizer?  You use the cream soup bowl for both your Vichyssoise and your broth?  Or even (gasp!) you use the same bowl for any kind of soup or salad or cereal because you only have a couple size bowls?  What is this world coming to?

Back in the day (before dishwashers but when people still had “help”) people had separate dishes for almost everything.  My reference book for Versailles shows this bouillon bowl, the larger cream soup which is nearly the size we would use today but with handles, finger bowl, soup bowl, cereal bowl and fruit bowl.  Needless to say the bouillon is one of the less common pieces.  I think it would be fun to serve dinner with all the right pieces arranged just so.

Fostoria Glass Grape Brocade Etched Orchid Candleholder

Welcome to this week’s Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly of How Sweet the Sound.  Thank you for finding me.

This week I’m stretching “pink” to include Fostoria’s Orchid color which is a purply pink color.  Fostoria made a few patterns in this color and it was either not a good seller or was too costly to produce because they only made Orchid a few years.

The etch here looks mottled, doesn’t it?  In person the design itself is plain glass and the mottled looking background is actually raised above the surface.  It is very different from normal plate etchings and has a surface texture that feels good to touch.  You are seeing a brocade etch.

The etch is called Grape.  This isn’t a terribly imaginative name – nothing so fanciful as Bordeaux or Trailing Arbor or anything that took some thought to come up with – but it perfectly describes the pattern.  This has grape leaves and grape bunches and it really looks like brocade.

Other companies besides Fostoria made brocade etches but theirs are among the best known.  This is the rolled rim candle holder with the Grape brocade etch and we have it in stock.  Previously I’ve had the same candleholder in green and a gorgeous blue comport.   I like the brocade etches and hope you do too.

Buying information: Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass where shopping is like antiquing with your best friend.

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.

Thank you for joining my friends for a casual dinner with 1950s classic chic.  Thank you to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch and friends for this fun Tablescape Thursday.

Today we are having a casual dinner with friends on retro china from Japan, cut crystal from Duncan Miller, woven placemats and a special art piece by Dave Eickholt.  I got the idea for this table by starting with the china.

Tuillerie China Duncan Miller Kohinoor Tablescape

I bought this china at an estate sale.  The family must have liked china because they had three sets, this one by Tuillerie, some Blue Ridge pieces and a super sharp art deco dessert set from Austria.  I got this pattern because it is soft and pretty.  It looks peaceful and friendly, like a pattern you can use and mix and match with all sorts of things.

Tuillerie Fine Vintage China Bread & Butter Plate

The plates and bowls have a wide cream rim with pretty flower bouquets and an intricate rim design in warm brown and sage.  In the 1940s or 50s this would have been moderately priced Sunday dinner china.  I think it’s pretty and looks older without being all antique-y.

So what to put with this?  I thought the Tuillerie was a good basic pattern that could go with lots of other styles and had enough looks that it could look great with anything from casual to Sunday best.  Let’s see what we can do with it.

After the dishes the next selection was the place mat.   My Mom had these woven bamboo mats forever, at least since the 1950s.  I like the warm natural look and decided to try it with the china to pick up the warm colors in the plates.

Tuillerie China Made in Japan Dinnerware and Duncan Miller Kohinoor Goblets

So far so good.  The dishes have enough warmth to keep up with the casual woven bamboo place mats and not look silly.

Now let’s add cut crystal goblets from Duncan Miller.  This is another aha moment.  The plates are all rounded shapes and beautiful bouquets and these goblets have diamond cuts and squarish shapes.  And it works!  The goblets pick up the woven lines in the place mats and look great with the china.

Duncan Miller Glass Kohinoor Cut Crystal Ice Tea Tumbler

Last question is the centerpiece.  I wanted something with same warm gold colors and the strong lines and decided to use this crystalline glazed vase by noted potter Dave Eickholt.  I picked a round vase in gold crystals with rich burgundy and blue streaks.  Gorgeous!

Dave Eickholt Crystalline Glazed Porcelain Vase

Come in, sit down and enjoy dinner with Dave and me!  If you like what you see we have the china and crystal listed in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.

Tuillerie China and Duncan Miller Kohinoor Goblets

Tiffin Classic Etched Pink Elegant Depression Glass Tumbler

Thank you to Beverly from How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday and allowing me to join the fun.

If you read my Tablescape Thursday post this week you saw a beautiful pink pitcher with a scarf-draped dancer swirling among the scrolls and swags.  Today we see the matching tumblers in this pretty pink pattern.

During the 1920s and 1930s a lot of glass companies made designs that featured nearly-nude dancers or nymphs.  You’ve probably seen Hocking’s Cameo depression glass and that was the poor man’s version of this delightful theme.  Monongah’s Springtime etch and Tiffin’s Psyche were plate etched, similar to the Classic etched tumbler shown here.

Just seeing the dancer on this stem makes me want to grab my scarf and join in.  It makes me happy just to look at it.  The color is a beautiful pink, not garish or in your face and not wishy washy either, just pink.

Fostoria Glass Buttercup Etched Crystal Torte Cake Plate

Buttercups, crystal and cake, what an entrancing combination.  Every time I see this large etched plate with the sweet rolled up rim I visualize it holding a special cake for a birthday party or wedding shower.  This pattern with the all over wide open flowers, leaves and scrolls is called Buttercup and it comes to us from Fostoria Glass.

Buttercup is one of those patterns that brides got for wedding gifts in the early 1950s and now are passing on to their families.  It’s a sleeper pattern with ever more people collecting it and looking for pieces to augment what they got from their mom or grandmother.  I buy Buttercup when I can and this particular piece came from an estate sale where the mother was in ill health and moving to assisted living.

This plate is called a torte plate in the Fostoria catalogs so consider it a large cake plate.  It’s 14 inches wide so you can put almost any size or shape cake on it, or use it for your special breakfast muffins or beautifully decorated cupcakes or even sandwiches.  Using special serving pieces is a good way to make your table even more special.

If you want a special cake plate for that special day, consider a vintage etched piece like this.  It will make your day even more memorable.

Do you like to play cards before dessert or do you prefer to skip the card game and sit with friends and enjoy tea and dessert?  I imagined that we were hosting a party for Tablescape Thursday with Susan from Between Naps on the Porch and friends.  Since it’s nearly Valentine’s, I decided to show off a special set of vintage French porcelain dessert plates in a simple table setting for a dessert after a card party.  You can see this is set simply with no centerpiece or candles although a rose azalea or cyclamen would be perfect additions.

After playing cards for a few hours we’re ready to go in the dining room for cake, coffee, nuts, mints and candy. We are using Heisey Gayoso pink water goblets with Heisey Twist pink nut cups.  My dining room table is a little wide for this small place setting so let’s see what it looks like up close.

Tressemann & Vogt Rose Sprigged Plate Heisey Gayoso Goblet

T&V Tresseman & Vogt French Porcelain Rose Sprigged Plate

Here we see the cute little Heisey Twist pink glass nut cups and Tiffin’s Classic pink pitcher the way they look together and the pitcher by itself.

Tiffin Classic Pitcher Heisey Twist Nut Cups

Tiffin US Glass Classic Etched Dancer Pink Pitcher

Heisey Glass was known for high quality glassware from the depression until they closed and this combination shows it. Heisey made Twist in a rainbow of colors with the pink one of the prettiest. Lots of glass companies made cute little nut cups and they are fun collectibles all by themselves. I’m imagining these with peanuts and mints for our friends to enjoy while we play cards and afterwards while we enjoy homemade Lady Baltimore cake and a cup of Oolong tea.

Tiffin’s Classic etch has a dancer draped in a long scarf flanked by scrolls and swags.  It is one of the more sought after elegant glass patterns from the depression era, especially in Valentine’s Day pink.

The goblets are a fun story.  I had some crystal etched goblets for a year or so and finally managed to identify as Heisey.  The shape is so distinctive with the flared stem and wasp waisted bowl that when I saw these pink goblets it was easy to decide to buy them.

Heisey Glass Gayoso Pink Water Goblet

We carry all the glassware and china shown in our online store, Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  Shopping with us is like antiquing with your best friend, so come and visit.

Elegant Glass: Early, Depression, & Beyond by Coe & Coe

Welcome to Book Report Sunday.  Tonight is my favorite reference book for elegant glass, Elegant Glass: Early, Depression, & Beyond by Coe & Coe.

Elegant glass is “good glass”, the sort that people bought at jewelry and high end department stores, by makers like Fostoria, Cambridge, Heisey.  It took skilled artisans to produce this glassware because it took quite a bit of hand work.  Seams were minimized by fire polishing and bottoms were ground.  The etching and cut decorations were done on each piece individually.

If you want detailed coverage of one specific manufacturer you can find books that cover only one company.  I counted at least nine books about Fostoria Glass and there are about that many about Cambridge too.  This book covers patterns from many companies from the 1920s through the 1970s.

Good Points about this Book:

• Excellent clear photos
• Comprehensive lists of pieces.
• Dimensions are given for almost everything.  For example goblets are given in terms of the volume they hold and height which is very helpful
• The value guide is realistic.  Of course it is too high sometimes and too low for others but in general this is reasonably good and very useful.
• I like the way it shows the different colors and gives values for those.
• It makes no pretense to try and put a dollar price on extremely rare pieces especially on very popular patterns
• The book includes glass from the depression era through the 1970s.  Other general elegant books limit themselves to certain eras only

Could Be Improved:

• Of course more patterns would be even better.
• I would like to see more descriptive information.  For example, Cambridge etched Rose Point on at least five different blanks and it would be great to see them photographed together so you can get a feel for the distinctive characteristics of each.  The price list includes the blank numbers but you have to hunt around to find a picture that will show the blank.

Overall this is a superb book that you need if you intend to collect, enjoy or sell elegant glass.  I rely on this book as one of my primary reference tools.  The link above is an affiliate link.

Etched Drops & Bands Etched Vintage Crystal Stemware

I wish I knew who did this.  It’s a simple shape with straight stem and rounded bowl with straight sides.  The etch – or sand blast – is a solid band with joined lines that have little dangles hanging down.

So who did it?  One possibility is Tiffin.  They made a stem that Gene Florence called Tiara and the Replacements book Tiffin is Forever A Stemware Identification Guide calls SB 602, sand blast.  The top design just above the solid band on the Tiffin picture shows linked circles and mine is plain above the solid band.

OK, what other possibilities?

Another idea is Seneca number 283, which is similar but also not quite a perfect match.  Seneca 283 has a thin double line above the band.

Anyone else have an idea?  These are obviously old, my guess is they go back to around World War 2 based on the style of the etch and the shape of the glass.  They are reasonably good quality but not high end.

These were most likely meant to be wine goblets but they are small for our contemporary tables where we tend to use goblets that hold 8 ounces or more for wine.  Today these would be perfect for an apertif or after dinner brandy.

Back in the era when there were many makers of fine quality glass in eastern United States the companies often had similar wares, similar designs, similar colors, similar etches.  This is partly because good ideas travel but also the artisans moved around.  Companies traded molds.  Other companies specialized in decorations and made no glass but decorated other makers’ ware.  These situations make it difficult to identify some pieces.

That’s ok though.  We can enjoy the glass even when we can’t call it by name.