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.

Thank you for letting me share our all-crystal table with you. Thank you to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch and friends for this fun Tablescape Thursday.  After last week when we had our blue period I thought a beautiful crystal dinner would be a fun change.  All the tableware – dinner plates, cups, saucers and goblets – are Chintz etched crystal from Fostoria Glass.  This is a gorgeous pattern full of roses, vines and leaves.

Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal

Had you thought of using an all-crystal table?  We usually think of china for plates and glass for goblets, but the elegant and depression glass makers produced full lines of dinnerware.  I’m only showing a few pieces from our extensive selection of this pattern.   Fashions change and maybe next time I’ll put this on the larger table to show more pieces.  It makes a dramatic and unusual table to enjoy with friends.

Here is a close up of the dinner plate so you can see what it looks like.

Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal Dinner Plate

I have to confess that I tried something different to get a good photograph.  Our home is open and the dining room has only one wall to act as a resting point for your eyes.  That’s great for living but challenging to photograph so I put three minimal place settings on the buffet against the one wall.  That didn’t give me room to include the console bowls, salad bowls, sherbets, bread and butter plates, nappies.  You can really have a full tableware set of this pretty glass.

Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal Duo Candleholder

I especially like the the candleholders.  Fostoria used the Baroque blank, which is the one with molded fleur de lis to etch most pieces of Chintz.  These U-shaped candleholders are from a different line and they make a nice contrast.  The green vase is another choice piece by artist Dave Eickholt.

Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal Dinner Table

Here is the vase a little clearer.  Dave makes his own glazes of course and this is one of his specialties.

Dave Eickholt Green Crystalline Glazed Porcelain Vase

I like the vase with the modern-looking candleholders, don’t you?

Fostoria Glass Chintz Candleholders & Dave Eickholt Green Vase

Thank you for visiting and come back again next Thursday!

Buying information:  All glass shown is from Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  It’s like antiquing with your best friend.

Art pottery by Dave Eickholt is available at Dave’s online store at Etsy.

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 Baroque Azure Blue Vase

This week’s Tablescape Thursday post featured Moderntone cobalt blue depression glass.  Today we’ll look at a different style and color, azure blue elegant glass from Fostoria.

This piece is the winged vase in Fostoria Baroque glassware.  Some pieces in Baroque pattern have fleur de lis molded shapes around the edges and others have these striking curled wings.  Candle holders and comports have the wings turned into stems, very attractive and unmistakable.

Fostoria made Baroque in this light azure blue and gold tint light topaz colors plus crystal.  Earlier, in the 1920s and 30s Fostoria made darker blue glass, not cobalt but a medium royal blue color, and used it for etches like Royal and Vesper.  Later patterns, Baroque and Fairfax, used this lighter, almost sky blue shade.

Azure blue is easy on the eyes and a friendly color that works well with others.  Come try it out at Catladykate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  It’s 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.

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.

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.

Fostoria Glass Lido Etched Crystal Baroque Bowl

This is one of my favorite pieces.  I love the beautiful etch that looks like a milkweed puff or fireworks.  This is Fostoria’s Lido etch, one of their 1940s patterns (1937 to 1954) so they used the Baroque and Sceptre blanks.  The big salad or console bowl is Baroque and you can see the fleur de lis on the sides.

Fostoria made a few pieces of azure blue Lido which are extraordinarily beautiful pieces of American glassware.  The crystal is stunning and the etch is graceful, all over puffs.

The next piece is the water goblet.  You can see why this is called the Sceptre blank – look at the tiers of points just under the bowl.

Fostoria Glass Lido Etched Crystal Water Goblet

For some reason this pattern is not as well known as the contemporaneous Chintz or Navarre etched glass.  If you like this it is still quite reasonably priced for mid-century Fostoria, with the water goblet running about $15-30.   I expect that this design, like others made around this same time, will become more collected as the people who bought this originally as young brides begin to downsize and pass on their cherished glass to their families.

This is a gorgeous pattern and one I hope you enjoy.

Fostoria Glass American One Handle Flared Nappy Candy Dish

This is the last post in the candy dish series.  This piece is a little different.  It isn’t called a candy dish, although that’s how you would use it; it is called a nappy.

I know, a nappy sounds like baby diapers, but the term means a bowl.  Fostoria called many of their smaller bowls with one handles nappies.  You can imagine this holding the little conversation hearts at Valentines or foil wrapped chocolate Easter eggs or ribbon candy at Christmas.

This is smaller than the three previous pieces, about 6 inches long and less than 2 inches tall.  It is also less expensive, under $10.  The pattern is American, which is one of Fostoria’s best known designs that looks like crystal ice cubes.  Other companies made similar patterns but Fostoria’s is the original and the loveliest.

Fostoria Glass Chintz Etched Crystal Tall Water Goblet

We always have Fostoria’s Chintz etched glass in stock.  And I have several of the tall water goblets.  So why didn’t I sell any to Christmas shoppers this year?  Because they were in a box and not listed.  Oh my.  I sold out of a listing earlier and forgot to add more inventory.

Now that I’ve shown you how not to get this popular pattern out for others to enjoy, let’s look at this vintage stemware.  Fostoria made this from 1940 to 1973 and only in crystal.  You can immediately recognize this design because the etch looks spiky.  The rose stems trail around the goblet bowl and they have thorns and pointy leaves.  There is no center medallion and it isn’t symmetrical.

Fostoria made two sizes of water goblets, the taller one like this shown here that is 7 5/8 inches tall and holds about 10 ounces filled to the brim, and a shorter one that is 6 inches tall.  Think of the shorter goblet as a stemmed tumbler.  It doesn’t look as goblet-y as this tall on on the long elegant stem.

I’m aware of 10 different stemware sizes in Chintz.  There are the two water goblets, a claret wine which looks like the water but is only about 5 1/2 inches tall, the ice tea, which holds the most and has no stem beyond a chunky ball with wafers, two sizes of sherbets, a cocktail which looks like a sherbet but slightly narrower and 5 inches tall, a juice glass, oyster cocktail, and of course, a cordial.  As usual, the cordial is the most expensive, about $80 each.

Fostoria’s Chintz is relatively available and moderately priced.  We have the water goblets listed at $50 each with free shipping.

If you are looking for a vintage etched stemware pattern, consider Fostoria’s Chintz etch.  It’s got a lot of looks and goes very well with contemporary dinnerware.