I sold some Patrician plates recently and was struck by the color difference between amber glass from Federal and Cambridge. Here is the amber Patrician plate from Federal, made 1933 to 1937.
Patrician Amber Depression Glass Salad Plate
The color in the photograph is pretty realistic, it’s a light yellow gold color. Now to compare, here is the Etch 704 cheese and cracker from Cambridge Glass, made about 10 years before Patrician, in the mid-1920s.
Cambridge Glass Windows Border Etch 704 Amber Cheese and Cracker Set
This isn’t a fluke or just a photographic difference. The little mushroom cordial from Cambridge is also a deeper, rich shade of amber with a bit of russet.
Cambridge Mushroom 1341 Amber Cordial Elegant Depression Glass
I don’t want to overgeneralize, but amber glass from both Cambridge and Fostoria seems to be deeper colored and a bit reddish, while glass made during the height of the depression by Federal and others is lighter and more yellow. Here is the amber dinner plate from MacBeth Evans in their S Pattern, or Stippled Rose. It’s also depression glass from the early 1930s.
Stippled Rose S Pattern Amber Depression Glass Lunch Plate
Likely the lighter shades were in style during the 1930s than during the Roaring 20s when everything was dramatic and vivid. Just like today when you can date a home by the paint and carpet colors, we can often identify the decade that glass was produced by its color.