Floral is one of my favorite patterns. Let’s see 5 reasons why it’s one of the top patterns for collectors.
- Floral is a gorgeous, mold etched design with big flowers and leaves strewn all over. It’s exuberant, such a happy pattern.
- Jeannette Glass made Floral from 1931 to 1936 in pink and their gorgeous green glass, plus a few pieces in Delphite or Jadeite. You can get a full set of the wonderful green!
- You can get so many beautiful pieces, everything from dinnerware to tumblers and pitchers, to pretty accessories like vases and candy jars. It’s truly a pattern for any time.
- Floral is a good challenge for collectors. You can find many pieces quite easily, especially small plates, creamers and sugars, and others are much more elusive. And we all know that elusive pieces mean we have lots of reasons to shop for glass!
- Floral is mid-priced depression glass, not the least costly but far less expensive than some patterns.
- And as a bonus #6 reason, there is one piece known to have been reproduced, the footed salt and pepper and those can be distinguished from authentic quite easily.
Reason #1 Floral is Beautiful
Flowers and leaves, what’s not to like?
Originally collectors called this “Poinsettia” although the leaves do not look like poinsettia leaves. The flowers do have a sort of poinsettia-ish look. (I leave the “poinsettia” in on my blog posts just to help clarify which pattern we’re talking about.)
I particularly love that the design is all over each piece. There isn’t much white space around the flowers and the centers of plates have the big bold flowers and leaves. Here’s a close up to show the leaves and flowers in the centers.
Reason #2. Color
Green. Pink. Wow!
Plus look for a few kitchen ware pieces in Jadeite and some basic pieces for dinner in Delphite. There are very few pieces in crystal or other colors.
Reason #3. Wide Choice of Pieces
The table setting just above shows the dinnerware, everything from plates to tumbers and plenty of serving pieces too. Don’t forget the butter dish or candle!
Reason #4. Availability Plus Elusive – Collector Heaven
I got quite a few pieces of Floral by shopping at antique malls and haunting Craigslist and similar sites. Look for estate sales too as collectors who have accumulated choice pieces often use sales to disperse their glass.
You may want to check online too. Looking just now I saw over 400 listings on eBay for pink and green, including a wide variety of pieces.
Reason #5. Affordability
You can start a nice collection, or get a few pretty accessories like the candle holder or a lovely and useful set of tumblers and pitcher without going broke. When I was buying I found getting multiple pieces at a sale or via a site like Craigslist was a good way to keep costs down at least to start a collection.
Bonus Reason #6. Few Reproductions
Sadly there are reproduction footed salt and pepper shakers. Any red, dark blue or dark green shakers are fakes. If you find pink shakers check the threads at the top. Original shakers had 2 threads and new ones have only 1.
I hope this little walk through one of my favorite patterns shows you why you will like it too! Enjoy your glass!
As always, I recommend you invest in a good collector’s guide to help navigate fakes and know the pieces in each pattern. I had several at one time and found the Gene Florence Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass was the most helpful. Be aware the this was last updated in 2010 so prices and possibly other information are out of date. Consider attending a glass show and asking dealers with Floral how to spot any reproductions or look for more recent collector’s guides.