Glass pick of the week is from Monongah Glass, this lovely Secretaries Primrose etched crystal goblet. I love this etch, it is so detailed and so pretty, plus there’s a story.
Way back when I first started selling glass and was still pretty clueless Dave and I went to an estate sale where a work acquaintance was selling some unusual sherbets that I didn’t recognize. Most were chipped and they were about $5 each, even with the chips. I bought them anyway. (Remember, back then you could sell anything on eBay and I had not yet learned to buy prudently.)
Not only could I not identify the sherbet, I couldn’t even photograph the design. None of the pictures came out at all. I put them in a box and chalked it up to learning.
Fast forward about five years and to the Bay City flea market one cold April Saturday. One of the bigger vendors had a whole pile of interesting glass and china including more intriguing sherbets and goblets. Yes, the sherbets and goblets were the same pattern that I could not identify and could not photograph! I put them in a box but this time I had too many pieces to ignore. Plus they were so pretty I was anxious to know what they were and who made them.
I finally got a picture that was at least almost recognizable – not the one I’m showing here – and sent it to Replacements.com with a request for them to please help me identify it. They came back almost immediately with the answer: Secretaries Primrose by Monongah Glass. Who? Monongah rang the faintest of bells in my head so I got my trusty books out and did some research.
Monongah Glass was recognized for their lovely etched patterns, including Springtime which became the basis for Hocking’s mold etched Cameo, and Bo Peep. I have several pieces of the Art Deco Roseland etch. Hocking took over Monongah in 1928.
You can find Monongah Glass in a few books. John Zastowney included several patterns (but not Secretaries Primrose) in Lancaster Glass Company, 1908 – 1937 (Identification & Values (Collector Books)), and the Measell and Wiggins book, Great American Glass of the Roaring 20s and Depression Era, Book 2, includes a picture of our pretty Secretaries Primrose listed as etch number 850. Of course I saw this after Replacements kind help.
Since then I learned to take better pictures including the one shown here!
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