Topic: Amber cased jug

[Sid]

Hello:

I have acquired a water pitcher with a swirl body pattern.  It is amber cased over white with acid frosting inside and out.  It has a gound pontil mark on the base.

Any thoughts on maker and time frame?

http://tinypic.com/232oh0

Thanks

Sid

[glasswizard]

Sid your pitcher closely resembles ones made by Hobbs, Brockunier and company. They were in  South Wheeling West Virginia and operated from 1863 to 1893. That might be a good place to start your research. Terry in Iowa

[Sid]

Terry:

I started there.   My correspondance with the folks who wrote the Hobbs, Brockunier book has resulted in my posting here because this pattern and shape are not indicative of a Hobbs product.

It has been suggested to me that this jug may have come from England or Europe with Stevens and Williams being voiced as one possibility. I look forward to the thoughts of this group.

Thanks

Sid

[Frank]

Can you add a picture of the base. Are their a couple of bubbles on the side?

[Bernard C]

Sid,

My first reaction on seeing your pitcher was that it is obviously American.   A look through H&G book 9, Cranberry Opalescent, shows that H&G had the same difficulties as yourself.    On p68, the caption of the central pitcher finishes which could have been made by either Hobbs, Phoenix, La Belle, Northwood or even in England.

What is easy to forget is that experienced exporters to the USA like S&W, Webb, and Walsh would have made their export tableware to shapes familiar to the USA public.   So, experience with these companies' production for the British market may not be particularly useful in solving your attribution problem.

I did notice that the Northwood handle in colour plate 1 is identical to yours, but that is not enough for a positive attribution.

Your pitcher looks a creamy yellow to me, but my monitor is not very accurate on colours.    Yellow over opaque white is typical of Walsh Primrose, and an all-over matt finish is typical of their Sateen glass.   However Walsh glass is recorded in their factory pattern books, reproduced in Reynolds, and I cannot find any hint of American shapes in their tableware.   So probably not Walsh.

I can't help further.

Bernard C.  

[Sid]

Frank:

Here is a picture of the base:

http://tinypic.com/23jwxc

There are bubbles on the side between the amber and white layers.

Sid

[Sid]

Bernard:

Thank you for your comments.

Although it looks yellow, the outer colour is definitely amber which can be better seen in the picture of the base that I posted earlier.  In addition it does not have the uranium fluorescence under UV

I wondered about Northwood as well but the example of a Northwood ball shaped pitcher that I have has a marie to allow it to be snapped up rather than stuck up on a punty for finishing.  Here is another picture showing the pitcher from another angle.

http://tinypic.com/23k00h

Sid

[Bernard C]

Sid,

Reynolds quotes from The Ironmonger of 11 August 1886:

"Walsh striped-sateen ware is available in various shades of crimson, green and golden brown" (my italics).

He also illustrates other examples in blue over white, yellow over white, and just plain white.   So don't eliminate Walsh just yet!   How Eric found that reference beats me.   It is not the most obvious source for glass historians!

Have you tried any of the museums yet?

Best of luck, and please keep us informed.

Bernard C.  

[Frank]

I have an S&W catalogue from c1910 which is only services and includes a lot of pitchers. Not one of the pitchers resembles this and almost all are footed. Also, I did see a variety of handle designs but none that spread as much as this one does.

Perhaps it is European?

[Sid]

Bernard:  I have a question into the Corning Museum.  I will share what I learn from them.  

Frank:  Thank you for the information on Stevens & Williams' shapes.

Sid