Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. > USA

Is the carnival red?

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shanbeat:
I recently bought a 7-8" carnival glass bowl. Fenton, "Vintage" pattern with a candy ribbon edge. It looks red, and others have said it's red (I tend to trust their opinion as they have been collecting over 30 years). But then they drop the bombshell that there are many different SHADES of red. By itself sitting there it looks red front and back. But when you hold it up to light it takes on amberina qualities ( as in the center and edge stay red, but parts of the body are dark amberish color). What does this mean? Is my carnival actually considered to be red? Check the photos and let me know please!

Shannon

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/shanbeat/Carnival/Fentonvintage.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/shanbeat/Carnival/Fentonvintage-backnoglare2.jpg

Glen:
Shannon - there are no dumb questions in Carnival. (There are some dumb answers though....and I have probably given a few of them  :shock: ) Ask anything you need.

First I need to make a request of you - can you take another photo? In daylight (outside if possible) - and please can you take the pic of the collar base (called the marie) at a slight sideways angle. I need to get a look at the colour of the base glass where it has no iridescence at all.

The base colour of Carnival is often very difficult to assess because the iridescence plays so many tricks with it.

Red Carnival is the colour of traffic light red. It may have traces of yellow around the edges or right in the very centre. (Reverse Amberina and Amberina respectively). It may also have opal tips (very rare).

There are some colours which look red but are in fact very deep purples - and they are not classed as red.

Yours is a beautiful bowl - and even more spectacular with the tight crimped (candy ribbon) edge.

Glen:
Will you be able to get a chance at doing a photo of the collar base from the side, Shannon? I would love to be able to give you a big YES on the colour  :shock:

Glen

shanbeat:
I took the pics. I had to do it inside with artificial light as it is very cloudy here and I heard that isn't great. I am also putting a link to a photo of the very edge of the bowl hoping you can tell me what is up with the ribbon of "clear"? There is color on the very edge, but then approx 1/2 an inch down there is this ribbon of "clear" that goes all the way around and it is approx 1/2 an inch thick, and then the rest of the bowl is in the color. What's up with that?

Shannon

P.S. I am beginning to have strong suspicions that my bowl is not red. But I don't think it's marigold either, the color is too dark and strong in the reddish tones. Amber? Have no idea what the value would book (mind you neither is the candy ribbon edge).

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/shanbeat/Carnival/DSC00469.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/shanbeat/Carnival/DSC00468.jpg

Glen:
OK, here's what I think you have got - but first of all, thanks so much for taking the extra pics. My curiosity was getting stronger by the hour (I am a bit obsessive when it comes to Carnival you see.....it's my passion )

I believe your bowl is Reverse Amberina. This is red glass that blends to yellow/amber at the outer edges. Pressed red is difficult to "strike" and hold as pure red. For an explanation, I'll quote from "The Art of Carnival Glass".


--- Quote ---Striking is a fascinating technique used to achieve a special color effect.  It relies on the introduction of chemicals to the glass batch that will ultimately change the color of part or all of a glass item, when that portion of the item is reheated. The process was named “striking to another color,” or “striking” for short. Technically, striking is when the crystalline structure of the coloring agent alters upon controlled re-heating.

A good example of how striking affects the color of glass is in the highly sought after Carnival color, red. Shades of cranberry and ruby red had been created by adding gold to the batch, but this glass is usually blown, not pressed in the way that Carnival was made (owing to the fact that the process involved in press moulding affects the color). The breakthrough came with the addition of selenium to the batch (at Fenton's) in the 1920s that produced a bright cherry red color when the temperature control was exactly right.

Pressed red is a difficult color to achieve with absolute uniformity as it is notoriously difficult to strike. When selenium red is taken from the hot glass batch it is red. However, when it is then pressed in a mould, its color becomes yellow. Subsequent re-heating causes the yellow color to change back to red—technically, what happens is that the crystals within the glass are made smaller by pressing—this causes the color change to yellow. They are then made larger by controlled re-heating, which in turn causes the yellow color to become darker and go back to red (strike).

It’s not unusual to find a yellow shading on red Carnival Glass where the heat has not been great enough on that portion of the item being made. The shading into yellow is called amberina. Standard amberina is where the outer edges of the piece are red but as you look toward the center of the item you see an increasing amount of yellow. Reverse amberina is the opposite way round—the yellow tones are to the outer edge of the piece.
--- End quote ---

You have a beautiful and very special piece of glass, Shannon. Congratulations. It is lovely - and made extra special by that exquisite edge.

Glen

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