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The
following article is the first in a series written by American carnival
glass collector Bob Grissom. It is reproduced with Bob’s kind permission.
There are other articles by Bob on Northwood and Millersburg.
Original Carnival Glass
Makers - Fenton Art Glass Company
by Bob Grissom
Who
were the companies that made this inexpensive iridized glass which later
became known as carnival glass? Between the years of 1907 thru 1925 eight
Companies produced the major portion of the glass, Fenton, Northwood,
Imperial, Dugan/Diamond., Millersburg, Westmoreland, U.S. Glass (which
was a conglomerate of several companies), and Cambridge. Other companies
iridized a small amount of glass.
 Frank L. Fenton
(pictured at right) and his brother John W. Fenton were the principal
founders of the Fenton Art Glass Company of Williamstown, West Virginia.
The company has been in continuous operation since it's founding in 1906,
and started producing iridized glass in 1907 and continued until sometime
around 1925. They produced a great many forms of coloured pressed glass
during this period, Many of these pieces are considered very collectable
today. But, their major production was the iridized glassware.
As
with all of the companies that produced carnival glass, most pieces can
be identified as being made by a particular maker due to certain
characteristics, ie, colour, pattern, shape, edges, and back pattern.
Colours: Fenton made
the usual colours of amethyst, cobalt blue, green, marigold, and white.
Pieces in cobalt blue and marigold are easily found in a large majority
of their patterns. Of the usual colours, amethyst pieces are the most
difficult to find. Green and white pieces are available, but not in all
patterns. Fenton made a limited number of pieces in amber, aqua
opalescent, custard, lime Green, lime green opalescent, moonstone, peach
opalescent, red, and vaseline. Their production of carnival glass was
noteworthy for having produced most of the red pieces. Red pieces were
made in a very limited quantity, and they have always been some of the
more sought after carnival glass items. Aqua opalescent is another
favourite colour of the carnival glass collector, but the Fenton pieces
are not as popular as those made by Northwood.
 Patterns: More than 150
different carnival glass patterns are attributed to Fenton. Two patterns,
‘Butterfly & Berry’ (pictured at left) and ‘Orange Tree’ are found on
more pieces than any other. These two patterns can be found on either the
front or back of various pieces. Some of the best known animal and bird
patterns came from the Fenton factory. Patterns such as ‘Kittens’, ‘Lion’,
‘Panther’, ‘Dragon & Lotus’, Dragon & Strawberry’, ‘Peacock &
Dahlia’, ‘Peacock & Grape’, ‘Stag & Holly’ and ‘Peacock &
Urn’. Many of their patterns follow an oriental theme, and the ‘Bearded
Berry’ pattern is used as the back pattern on many of the pieces.
Shapes
& Edges:
The saw-tooth fluted edge is used on many of the pieces. In addition,
either the six or eight ruffles, the 3-in-1, ice cream shape (ICS), and
the candy ribbon edge (tight crimp) were also added. Fenton pieces with
the pie crust edge (PCE) are not very often found. A distinct
characteristic of Fenton plates is that they are more flat than those
made by the other makers.
Editor’s
Note: Of course, Fenton is still alive and well and manufacturing glass
in Williamstown, West Virginia, USA. You can visit Fenton’s Internet site
by clicking here to find out
more about their history and what they are doing right now.
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