Last post we looked at elegant glass with gold trim, usually around the rim, and glassware which had the etch picked out in gold, called encrusted. Today let’s look at mass produced depression glass, patterns such as American Sweetheart or Diana which included pieces with precious metal trim.
This first piece is American Sweetheart in Monax with a thin gold line around the rim. The gold is worn.
MacBeth Evans made American Sweetheart in a transparent red glass, unfortunately it is not common. We saw this gorgeous display at the National Depression Glass show, red American Sweetheart with gold trim. This has almost a baroque look.
Several other patterns were offered with gold trim. I’ve not had many myself thus lack photos, but you might find Block Optic and Banded Rings from Hocking, or crystal Cameo with platinum trimmed rims.
Federal made Diana with both platinum and gold trim as in these next two photos. (I’m not sure whether the trim is platinum or silver.)
The gold on this Diana plate may have been added by an after market decorating company.
MacBeth Evans’ Petalware pattern attracted many decorators who added painted designs and some used the glass as a canvas for gold trim. We had several pieces with this gold design, mostly badly worn. The gold came off easily with a pencil eraser.
This saucer matches the dinner plate.
This Petalware creamer has a gold rim. The glass itself is Cremax, a warmer tone than Monax which is pure white.
The last depression glass piece we had with gold trim is this Cube creamer and sugar. This is likely from Hazel Atlas. Notice the trim is around the top rim and on the handles. These were not attractive pieces.
I’m not aware of depression glass where the design itself was picked out in gold, similar to how etched elegant glass had gold in the etch. Mass produced depression glass has motifs that are raised above not etched into the surface, as with the American Sweetheart pieces, and metal on a raised spot would tend to wear.
People often wonder whether the metal trim adds value to a piece. Realize that the amount of precious metal is miniscule in trimmed pieces and that wear makes them less attractive. As an example of how little gold actually is on a piece, my husband trimmed some of his pottery with gold or copper. He used metal suspensions, which themselves had little metal, that came in 1 ounce bottles, which covered dozens of pieces, even when he put on inch-wide bands.
That said, a piece with intact trim that is attractive and on a popular pattern can be more valuable than the plain ones. The Rose Point shown in the prior post is a good example; one can find many pieces of this and they tend to be higher priced. Patterns where one can get just a piece or two with trim are fun items.
After the depression we find many more mass-produced patterns with gold trim, such as Anniversary from Jeannette, or the Shell pattern from Anchor Hocking. We’ll see a few of these in the next post.