Fenton - Part 3

BOUQUET TUMBLER - in Persian Blue: According to the article written on this subject, Cecil Whitley believes that tumbler collecting is intriguing because there are so many patterns, shapes, sizes, and colors. In spite of the large quantities produced, a “tumbler find” like this one may not come along for years. As to the excitement of acquiring this tumbler, it can be compared to owning the white Drapery by Northwood (2 known), the Northwood marigold Peach (2 known), and the blue Northwood Plums and Cherries (one known). It meets the criteria of being an American product, a popular pattern, a rare color, and is truly beautiful.

This Persian Blue tumbler was pictured in a Burns auction brochure. In spite of the beauty of this item, I thought it might be a product of clever photography and that the color might be exaggerated. Believe me! It was not! A friend of ours, Bob Gallo, purchased it and sold it to us for what it cost him. He insisted that it belonged in our collection. Deeds like this show the spirit of a really great man and carnival collector.

This Bouquet tumbler has a heavy marigold overlay on the top half. It is four inches tall and is the only one known at this writing - April 1998. Bouquet is a Fenton product, with blue and marigold water sets not too difficult to locate.

Why only one tumbler and no pitchers in this color? Glass companies such as Fenton would produce a limited quantity of a certain pattern and color and test the market for such items. If the item did not generate the expected sales volume then it was never produced in quantity.

It is believed that Persian Blue was produced only by Fenton and was used in a very limited number of patterns. Prior to the discovery of this tumbler in the Bouquet pattern, I know of it existing in Peacock and Urn, Lotus and Grape, Vintage, and Autumn Acorn 9” bowls. Persian Blue should be considered the rarest of the blue shades. Many of the bowl examples in this base color are not very well iridized; however, with consistent search, some very beautiful examples can be located.

OPEN EDGE VASE: - two-row - Averaging 7” to 8” in height, the two row style vase can be found in marigold and blue, but very rarely, indeed! Some have the plain interior, while others offer the Blackberries inside. These are “swung” from the Two Row bowls of the same name. We stopped in a little dusty town in AZ, going home from one of our trips “back East” to attend a Convention or an auction during the nearly 30 years we lived in San Diego, and found a nice marigold vase with Blackberries inside, sitting in a shop next door to the gas station where we found ourselves……….for $19! Of course we asked for a “better price!” We paid $16.00! Now, that's a bargain by anybody's standards. One of these vases (with berry interior) sold for $2000 in early 2005!

OPEN EDGE BASKET - two-row - with BLACKBERRIES: (Two sides up) bowl is found in red and is about 7” is size. A hat, or ruffled shape can be found in amberina, amethyst, aqua, blue, celeste blue, green, marigold, red and white.

OPEN EDGE PLATE with BLACKBERRIES: - two-row - These are 8” in diameter and usually pretty flat. Blue, marigold, and white, with an ice blue reported. These are prone to having cracks within the lattice edges.

OPEN EDGE BASKET in Vaseline: - Two-row ruffled versions are 5-7”, and can be found in ice cream and jack-in-the-pulpit and two-sides up shapes as well. Celeste blue, ice blue, ice green, marigold, red and white are additional colors to look for.

OPEN EDGE BASKET in White: (Plain Interior) Three row shapes are more difficult to locate than two-row examples in any color. Three-row bowl shapes known in Celeste, ice blue, ice green, and white. Hats-ice blue, ice green, white; Bowl-Celeste, ice blue, ice green, white; large 9 ½” plate is known in ice blue and white, (one example in each color).

OPEN EDGE BASKET - White with BLACKERRIES: These two-row square baskets with berries are not often found in white. Aqua, Celeste, Cobalt blue, Green, Ice Green Marigold and Red are other known colors having the Blackberry interior.

HEAVY PINEAPPLE: Hartung Book 9, page 70 illustrates this rare bowl. Only two-three are known. Realism was not a prerequisite for glass designers. You'll notice that in this patten, the pineapples appear to be growing on trees? With all that said, this remains a very interesting and attractive pattern, unusual that it is. A Fenton product reported in this large three footed fruit or orange bowl in marigold, blue and white. These are similar to the Fenton Stag and Holly footed fruit bowls.

10” wide and 4 ¾” high, the ones seen have excellent iridescence with the pattern on the exterior only. Three large clusters of pineapples evenly spaced around the bowl, the design is heavily raised from the surface. Only these few bowls carry the lovely pattern!

PERSIAN MEDALLION - Grape & Cable Sauce: How many of these have you seen? The large footed fruit or orange bowls are not too difficult to locate, but these little cuties can pose a problem if you go out looking for one. It is about the same size as the Panther and Butterfly & Berry sauce dishes. The only color seen is marigold.

This was purchased in Oct. of 1990 in a western Kansas carnival glass auction. The crowd was large and everyone was surprised at the prices and enthusiasm of the group in attendance.

John and Lucile Britt won out on this little sauce, and took it home for a higher price than they had expected to pay. They said they had seen one at a convention many years before, but it was not for sale. Certainly not an elaborate piece, but one which should be considered rare indeed.

FUCHSIA BON BON - This very pretty, very rare blue bonbon was found in about 1991 by Richard and Roberta Conley of Silver Spring, MD. It had never been listed in any of the books on carnival glass, so when John & Lucile Britt photographed the blue piece and wrote about it for the first time in June 1992, they decided to call the pattern Fuchsia. It certainly resembles that exotic flower so prevalently used in hanging baskets all over Southern California.

The shape is the same as was used for Fenton Wreath of Roses bon bon. A marigold Fuchsia bon bon had been photographed ten years previous when owned by a gentleman in Allentown, PA.


This STIPPLED RAYS Hat dates back to MID SPRING -1909. (See Butler Bros. Ad for that date.) This one is in amethyst color, 3 in. high x 5 1/2 in. across the opening.	5 inch LEAF TIERS Bowl

STIPPLED RAYS HAT: These hats in marigold and amethyst were among the earliest of production, dating to 1909. The pattern was used extensively over the years into the period of red carnival glass in the early 1920s. The plates usually have Scale Band pattern on the exterior and are found in marigold and red. There are stemmed sugars without lid in amber, vaseline, amethyst and red. Compotes are known in vaseline, olive and celeste. A large white square bowl is known, along with bonbons in amethyst, green and marigold. Small slightly dome-footed bowls can be found in aqua, blue, green, marigold, red and red slag. There is at least one 10” ice cream shaped bowl in blue which surfaced in 1998.

LEAF TIERS BERRY BOWL: in this 5-6” size indicates an amethyst berry set, along with marigold. Water sets in marigold are rather difficult to obtain. One of the rare blue tumblers will command $500-$600 on occasion. Four piece table sets in marigold are known.