Petalware Depression Glass by MacBeth Evans

Petalware Monax Depression Glass Florette Decorated Plate

Posts about Petalware Depression Glass
Petalware Depression Glass Basic Information
Petalware Pieces Made
Availability and Pricing
Reproductions, Damage Concern

Posts about Petalware Depression Glass

Petalware Basic Information

MacBeth Evans made Petalware for a very long time, 1930 to 1950, mostly in monax translucent white and transparent pink, but they also produced crystal, Ivrene (darker cream) and Cremax (lighter cream), Monax, Ivrene and Cremax with several decorations, fired-on solid colors and a mustard in transparent cobalt blue.

Here are the colors, monax, pink, then Ivrene and last Cremax.

I don’t find it easy always to tell whether a piece is Ivrene or Cremax but these are fairly clear. First is Ivrene, note the faded pastel band on the rim. I saw more Ivrene or Cremax with pastel bands than Monax.

Petalware Ivrene or Cremax Depression Glass Lunch Plate — Petalware Ivrene Depression Glass Lunch Plate

Petalware Cremax Depression Glass Salad Plate

Pieces have a simple molded motif that looks like petals. The cereal bowl shown in pink above and a few other shapes have concentric circles in the center while plates and most other pieces have plain centers. Those plain centers are magnets for painters!

The decorations are fun! The pattern shown at the top of the page, small red flowers and light green leaf spray, is called Florette and is the decoration we saw the most of shopping in Michigan. I had enough pieces at one time to set a table for lunch.

MacBeth Evans made a more exuberant design called Mountain Flowers that I do not recall seeing. It has red trim on the rims and big red flowers, yellow and blue small flowers and darker leaf sprays than does Florette. Other patterns are big concentric colored circles as shown below, various pastel bands on the rim, some fired on solid colors and metallic trims.

We only had a few of the many decorations, but here are the primary colored bulls eye pattern and two with gold trim below.

Petalware Ivrene with Bulls-Eye Painted Design

The first gold trim is probably the easiest to find, a simple gold trim around the rim. I noted this creamer originally as Ivrene but it in between the shades of the Ivrene and Cremax plates above.

Petalware Cremax Gold Trimmed Creamer — Petalware Ivrene or Cremax Gold Trimmed Creamer

This next gold trim is common enough to have a name, Coronet! I don’t know whether MacBeth Evans applied the gold or a decorating company. We had several pieces of this.

Besides these, which you can possibly find in enough pieces to use, that plain white or cream center was irresistible to artists. Some designs are from MacBeth Evans while others are from decorating companies or talented painters. You might see plates with fruit, flowers, birds, with and without rim color.

Petalware Pieces Made

Plain Petalware in pink, Monax, Cremax or Ivrene is a dinnerware pattern. Some original boxes of plain pink Petalware included ribbed tumblers with a bulbous bottom and flared top. Monax in the popular Mountain Flowers decorated pattern has matching crystal tumblers, sherbets and pitchers and MacBeth Evans made some crystal pitchers with painted bands that match the banded Petalware designs. We’ll concentrate on the plain, undecorated colors here.

MacBeth Evans made a fairly complete dinnerware service. Look for a 2-handled cream soup with a saucer, cereal, and soup for individual place settings, and sherbet liner, salad and dinner plates, cup and saucer, and in Monax and Cremax, a sherbet.

Petalware Monax Depression Glass Lunch Plate

There is a decent selection of serving pieces, too. MacBeth Evans made an oval platter and two salvers, which are round, flat plates, 11 inches and 12 inches across. Notice the platter and salver shown have concentric ribs in the centers.

There is one serving bowl, 9 inches across, creamer and sugar. You might find tidbits, Lazy Susans or similar pieces that someone made with plates or bowls and metal handles.

I’ve seen a picture of a blue mustard with metal lid but never one in person. Incidentally, I don’t know whether it’s happenstance that our serving pieces were almost all pink, not Monax, while we saw more Monax place setting pieces than pink.

Macbeth Evans made no candy jar, candle holder, cookie jar or comport in Petalware.

Petalware Availability and Pricing

We owned quite a few pieces over the time we were buying and selling glass and purchased all pieces at estate sales or flea markets, and possibly antique malls. We were not searching for specific items or decorations and did not need to shop online because there was so much available locally. (This was Michigan from 1999 to 2017.) Remember, we were shopping for resale.

We don’t have flea markets, antique malls or estate sales where we live now so I’m looking at eBay and sites like Replacements to get a sense of current market.

On eBay I saw at least one of every piece of Petalware, among the colors but with most pieces in cremax or Monax or pink, and many pieces in the most popular/commonly-found decorations. It was fun seeing the designs, I especially like the bright primary bands and the lovely hand-painted birds and the Florette and Mountain Flowers designs.

Ivrene with pastel bands appeared to be somewhat higher priced than Florette or the plain colors. It is quite a good color combination with the dark cream background and medium blue and pink bands.

Speaking of Mountain Flowers, which has large, exuberant red flowers with smaller yellow and blue flowers on green leafy sprays, there were only a few pieces listed. (Likely there were others not identified as such.) Florette was the most common decoration.

In general prices have not changed much from when we sold glass and were roughly what Florence lists as market prices in his 2010 guide.

Petalware remains an affordable pattern with many pieces that are easy to find, along with some special decorations that are more costly and harder to catch.

Reproduction and Damage Concerns

No one has remade or reproduced Petalware. There are patterns that are similar, but certainly you won’t find any of those similar patterns in Cremax, Monax or Ivrene, and the named patterns that have similar vertical ribs are quite different. You won’t have any problems spotting Petalware once you have seen a piece or two.

Petalware has no inner rims with sharp drop offs, nor are the rounded rims particularly prone to nicks. We had one creamer with a nick in all the Petalware pieces we bought. Utensil wear could be a problem given the mostly blank centers on plates, although you might not notice that too much on the white and cream colors.

Overall Petalware is a safe pattern to collect with no reproduction concerns, not much worry about mistaking the pattern for another and minimal damage concerns.

Summary

Petalware is a fun depression glass pattern to collect, especially if you decide to go after sets of the decorated pieces. It’s relatively inexpensive, attractive, has many pieces that are easy to use and enjoy. No reproduction and minor damage concerns make it a safe pattern to purchase.