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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Unresolved Glass Queries => Topic started by: Paul ADK on December 21, 2005, 05:14:55 AM

Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Paul ADK on December 21, 2005, 05:14:55 AM
Today I passed up an attractive green opalescent pitcher and glasses set that had me puzzled.  The pattern is a smallish bunch of grapes near the bottom of the pitcher with a vine and leaves extending straight up from the cluster.  The mark is either the letter N, or possibly the letter M, in a shield.
The dealer calls the set Northwood, and it may well be from a Northwood mold for all I know.   What worries me, is that the glass is quite thick and heavy, and that the mark is definitely a shield, not the circle I would have expected to find.  I'm sorry, I can't provide a photo.  

Any idea who might have made the set or if it is new, old or some sort of repro?

Thanks,
Paul ADK
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Connie on December 21, 2005, 11:57:39 AM
Could it possibly have been a W in a keystone?

http://www.heartland-discoveries.com/images5/mk12-94.gif

Mod: Image gone, archive.org link used instead: http://web.archive.org/web/20061208094510/http://www.heartland-discoveries.com/images5/mk12-94.gif (http://web.archive.org/web/20061208094510/http://www.heartland-discoveries.com/images5/mk12-94.gif)

That is one of the early marks for Westmoreland Glass.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Glen on December 21, 2005, 01:35:24 PM
I'm wondering if it's Mosser. Their trademark is a letter M inside the shape of the state of Ohio (sorry, that's hard to put into words in the short time I have right now). Mosser have certainly done green opal, and they do do (repro/re-issue) Grape and Cable and similar patterns (including Northwood look-alikes).

http://www.mosserglass.com/


Glen
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: butchiedog on December 21, 2005, 02:12:17 PM
I agree with Glen,

It sounds like a Mosser glass mark to me too, one of the many modern reproducers of older glass items.

(http://tinypic.com/ixfozn.jpg)

They also sign some pieces with a simple M or not at all.

Mike
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Paul ADK on December 21, 2005, 02:44:13 PM
No, the mark is definitely a shield.  It is not a key stone or the Mosser map of Ohio.  In fact, we have some inherited Mosser glass in Cherry Thumbprint, so I am quite confident that identifying mark is not the same.

Paul ADK
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: butchiedog on December 21, 2005, 06:40:58 PM
Paul ADK,

Well,  that eliminates a few makers I think.

Besides describing a mark, the best way to figure out what you have is to post a link to a photo of it.

Here a bit I have just in case...

This is a photo of a Mosser vase they do in a grape pattern and they also do pitchers & tumblers in the same pattern and type of glass.

http://tinypic.com/ixs5g3.jpg

Mosser's items in this pattern are modern reproductions of Westmoreland Glass items. Here are a couple versions of the design by Westmoreland.

http://tinypic.com/ixs7y1.jpg

http://tinypic.com/ixs8et.jpg

These Westmoreland items are usually signed this way, (http://tinypic.com/ixs9rt.jpg) and I don't believe that anyone was making these items before Westmoreland, but that they were original designs of this company.

There are also a lot of close looking copies of old glass like this coming out of China these days.

Other than that I don't have a clue or any knowledge of a "M in a shield" glass mark. I apologize If I have been no help to you whatsoever.

Mike
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Connie on December 21, 2005, 07:40:30 PM
Mike's comments reminded me that I have a Westmoreland Paneled Grape set in my store.  Does this set look similar to the set you saw in Green Opalescent?

http://www.grayhorseglass.com/items/465199/item465199store.html#item

Peletier Glass Co. of Ottawa, Illinois ended up with many of Westmoreland's Paneled Grape moulds when Westmoreland closed.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: butchiedog on December 21, 2005, 08:32:13 PM
Hi Connie,

I had not heard of Peltier's acquisition of any Westmoreland molds, that's interesting.

I live in Indiana at the moment, but I once did live in the Ottawa, Illinois area and have been to the Peltier plant a number of times to watch them make glass votive candle holders and colored marbles, which they flatten out and sell to craft stores for use in leaded glass lamps, windows and sun-catcher craft kits.

I know that Rosso sells a good deal of Westmoreland reproductions, as well as reproductions of McCoy pottery and many other things. They (Rosso) don't make anything themselves, but have others do it, using the molds they own. I have heard of Summit Glass making items for them and now I wonder if Peltiier is also one of their suppliers, since I haven't seen anything yet that is marked or attributed to Peltier specifically.

Here are a few of the marks that Rosso is using.

(http://tinypic.com/ixuq2r.jpg) (http://tinypic.com/ixurlt.jpg) (http://tinypic.com/ixursk.jpg) (http://tinypic.com/ixurv7.jpg)

It seems as if they can't make up their minds which mark to go with or perhaps each of the makers they use have their own mark.

Thanks for the tip.

Mike
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Frank on December 21, 2005, 08:35:28 PM
Thereare lots of shield shapes, can you describe it? What type of letter, serif, sans-serif, script.

Only obvious M in shield is Ernst Müller but that could not be mistaken for an N.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Connie on December 21, 2005, 09:02:42 PM
Mike -

Summit Glass, Viking Glass, John J. Biondich (Plum Glass), Peletier Glass Company, Allegheny Opalescent Glass Company, Blenko Glass, Brooke Glass Co., Loris Drug Store, Jeanette Shade & Novelty Co., Pairpoint Glass Co., Phil Rosso, and Premier Images, Inc are the documented companies that bought some of Westmoreland moulds when they closed.

There is a list of the moulds in the front of Collector's Encyclopedia of Milk Glass by Bill & Betty Newbound.  The also have list of where Imperial moulds ended up.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: butchiedog on December 21, 2005, 09:34:01 PM
Thanks again Connie,

That stuff is great to know when keeping track of the many reproduction items that are being sprinkled around in antique malls, among older things these days. Some of these crooks have even sunk to the degree that they are grinding and polishing round marks into the bottoms of Fenton glass items, claiming that those are polished pontil marks and calling it Hobbs glass. Some even shake the dust from their vacuum cleaner bags on the new glass in their mall displays to make it appear it has been sitting around in their shop for years. And then there is what shows up on ebay, said to have been great grand-ma's or from some 99 year old person's estate sale, geesh.

Many thanks again for the info.

Mike

PS:

Forgot to mention that the owner of Summitt, Gary V. ??? passed away recently and the company is closed.  They're  still negotiating who will get the molds from that concern. Also;  Brooke Glass close down in the late 1990s, I don't know the details of that one.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Paul ADK on December 21, 2005, 09:36:52 PM
No question, the pattern is that of the Westmoreland Paneled Grape  shown in both Mike and Connie's posts above.  As for the shape of the shield,  it is exactly the same as that of the paper label used by the Tiffin Glass Company of Tiffin, Ohio.  (Think of it as the Tiffin Shield with the letter N or M replacing the T for Tiffin.).

Thanks again to everyone.

Paul ADK

Sorry forgot to answer one question, the letter appears to be a capital M or N looking pretty much like those in this sentence.
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Glen on December 21, 2005, 10:01:26 PM
A fascinating and most interesting thread. Thank you.

Thanks, Mike, for the info on Summit. I had heard they had closed but I didn't know why. The owner's name was Vogelsong, by the way. I chatted with him on the phone a number of times in the past. There sure are a lot of moulds there...........

Glen
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: butchiedog on December 21, 2005, 10:13:50 PM
Paul ADK,

This is a mystery to me, especially since I am working on collecting and drawing glass mark images to build a website for those who are looking to ID a mark.

Going by what you have described I made this picture, along side of an old Tiffin label.

(http://tinypic.com/ixxo9z.jpg)

Am I on the right track here?  If so I will pass this around to other boards and see if I can find out who is using this mark.

Mike
Title: Green opalescent w/unusual mark
Post by: Paul ADK on December 22, 2005, 12:23:32 AM
Mike:

I would say that the form of the shield is completely correct although the outline is a bit heavier - say two to three times as thick.  Also the letter M or N (I'm still not sure which) is a bit larger, taking up more space inside the shield.  By the way, my wife and I both looked at the items with a glass, and neither of us could determine what the letter was.

Hope this helps.
Paul ADK