Iris and Herringbone is one of the popular depression glass patterns that has been hit with reproductions of a few pieces. According to my Gene Florence depression glass book, the only pieces reproduced are the footed cocktail, iced tea, dinner plates, flat tumblers and coasters, all in clear.
The good news is that leaves all the other pieces free of the reproduction taint. You can collect with confidence the other pieces, and once you learn to spot the tell tale signs of reproduced pieces, you can once more enjoy the dinner plates and tumblers. The information that follows is taken from Gene Florence’s book linked above.
Check the bottoms on flat tumblers. Old ones have the herringbone around the pattern and new ones don’t. For iced teas feel the bottoms with your finger. New ones have very sharp pointed herringbone rays while older ones feel smooth. Florence shows a photo of the old and new iced teas from the side and the older one has a less defined herringbone pattern.
Old dinner plates have a flat rim and new ones slope a bit, plus the outer ring of herringbone rays on the new ones make an upside down V on the rim, while older ones make a V. That sounds tricky, but just look at the out most herringbone. Is it right side up or upside down?
Personally, I have not seen reproduction Iris. It’s out there, but once collectors found out how to tell the bad from the good the fakers stopped making them. Also, we see more of the iridescent Iris here than the clear. The iridescent is a pretty gold color that looks nice with this pattern, especially on the ruffled bowls. Jeannette made the iridescent later than the crystal so strictly speaking it isn’t depression glass.
If you collect depression glass I highly recommend Florence’s book. He published 19 editions and they got better and better. The oldest editions and his last one are pricey, but the 17-18th editions are perfectly useful and reasonably priced. The link above goes to the 18th edition on Amazon where you can get a gently used copy for under $10.
We have gone in streaks with Iris, sometimes having many pieces but in the last 5 years I’ve reduced our inventory of Iris and Herringbone and we have only two pieces. The good news for you is that the reproduction scares have caused prices to fall and this is a good time to add Iris if you enjoy it. You can get a very pleasing array of ruffled bowls, plates, the usual dinnerware pieces and some marvelous accessories like the candle holders we have.
Iris and Herringbone Clear Depression Glass Candle Holder
The other piece we have is the small ruffled bowl. This makes me smile. I like the ruffles and it’s another example where a neat piece has many uses, both for lunch time or to hold knickknacks on your dresser.
Iris and Herringbone Crystal Ruffled Berry Bowl