Yesterday my friend Loren and I went to the first Allegan antiques show of 2013. This is a huge market with about 200 vendors, half inside and half out. It was a bright, sunny day, just perfect for wandering around big fairgrounds stuffed with antiques vendors.
We were there about 4 1/2 hours all together and I took lots of pictures for you. Since I took pictures in bright sunshine, in darker buildings, and under dark awnings some of these are a little hard to see. I’ll try to describe them so you know what we saw. It’s fun antiquing and even better with a friend!
We saw a few pieces of etched Fostoria, including this Heather etched Century bowl. Do you see the neat shadow with the design showing?
We saw quite a bit of depression glass. Sadly we saw some reproduction glass too. These bowls are Recollection from Indiana Glass, a remake of Madrid from Federal Glass. Federal did not make an aqua color; the Federal Madrid blue is very different. The other thing to know is that cereal bowls like this are usually among the harder to find pieces in authentic depression glass patterns, yet you will find tons of the reproduced Recollection cereal bowls in all the colors.
These plates are authentic green depression glass. There are two in the stack, a Cameo lunch plate on top and a Georgian Lovebirds dinner underneath. Both are badly worn and I left them behind. Loren really liked the green measuring cup with the three spouts. The green sherbets in the lower left are from Federal Glass, a very common, fun depression style.
I love stretch glass and this bowl is gorgeous, rich amber color and a beautiful shape. I almost bought it but next weekend is the KIA art show in Kalamazoo and I want to save my money for my favorite glass artist, Matt Richards.
The depression glass came in bunches. It seemed like a couple vendors in a row had glass, then we’d go through several booths without any. This vendor had a small set of delphite Cherry Blossom depression glass in the children’s sizes. I posted about the children’s toy doll dishes in Doric and Pansy a few days ago here: Let’s Reduce Confusion – Doric and Pansy Children’s Size vs. Adult Cups and Saucers
Jeannette Glass made both Cherry Blossom and Doric and Pansy and doll dish sizes and shapes are the same in both patterns.
I prefer transparent glass to the opaque, but that’s a personal preference. Jeannette used this lovely shade of blue for just a few patterns, Cherry Blossom and Swirl. Another view of the toy dishes:
Speaking of opaque glass, one of the colors that people either love or hate is black. Glass companies made black by producing a highly colored amethyst glass that had so much colorant that it looks black. Usually if you hold a piece of black glass to the light you can see faint tinge of purple where the glass is thinner.
This particular grouping is Mount Pleasant from L. E. Smith glass company. They made Mount Pleasant in blue, purple, pink and green in addition to black, but the only color I have ever seen is black.
This next one is from Imperial, their Beaded Block pattern. This is interesting glass. Apparently some folks think it is Early American Pressed Glass (EAPG) from the late 1880s and early 1900s, but it is not. Imperial made Beaded Block from 1927 to 1930 then reused the molds with pink and iridescent pink in the 1970s. The newer pieces are marked IG.
I have only had one piece in stock and have seen just a few others outside of a glass show. This is one pattern that you’ll need patience if you want to collect it. Beaded Block isn’t terribly expensive but some pieces are hard to find.
Several booths had Candlewick and I took a photo of the center handled server because I am a pushover for hearts. (It was Dave’s and my 40th wedding anniversary so I was feeling a little mushy too.)
When we first started going to antique fairs back in the late 1990s we used to see Jadeite everywhere. You might remember it was popular as kitchen glass, then got a huge boost in popularity when Martha Stewart featured it. This particular design has a scalloped rim and a pretty, raised design of flowers around the rim. It is from Fire King and called Alice.
This next shows several pieces of Cherry Blossom, plus a Windsor canoe shaped bowl and a Floral Poinsettia oval bowl. These are all depression glass patterns from Jeannette.
It’s fitting to end this post with a creamer and sugar set that I have seen before but do not know the name of nor who made it. I’ve seen this same pattern in pink, but without the cutting, and each time I think I should know it. But I don’t. It’s a mystery!
I don’t recognize the blue bowl either, but it is likely newer. The small oval toothpick is the Moon and Stars pattern.
