Topic: information request on Heisey glass.

[Paul S.]

I'm thinking this is possibly a custard - 2"/50mm high - pressed, with a star impressed base, and the Heisey mark of an 'H' in daimond on the bottom of the inside. Very clean, unscratched base which looks to be without any age.
Heisey ceased production, apparently, in 1957/58, although Imperial continued to offer Heisey's patterns, using Imperial marks only - or did a few patterns continue to come out after then, carrying the 'H'?  -  this piece looks almost too good to be pre 1958 - although I would be very interested to know the date that this 'custard' pattern originates from.
Also understand that the Heisey Collectors Group purchased the Heisey moulds from Imperial sometime around 1984, when Imperial ceased production  -  and the occasional Heisey pattern has subsequently be pressed and put onto the market - presumably carrying the 'H' in diamond?     
As can be seen from pic. No. 4, the mark seems nonethless quite sharp.
So, I'm wondering if my 'custard' is a very recent 'reproduction', using a much older Heisey mould (this we might consider confusing if it is true).  Apologies if the pics. are 'iffy' - I hate photographing these clear pieces  -  and the black plinth was used simply to help with contrast.
  Thanks for looking, and grateful for opinions from over the pond please........and my next post may be of interest also.
Reference:    My thanks to Wikipedia- almost entirely.

[cypher]

From what I can tell by your photos, you have a Heisey Punch Cup in the Narrow Flute Pattern #393.  Heisey produced this pattern starting around 1908 and ceased production of this particular pattern on 1935. 

[Lustrousstone]

As you found it here, I would guess that it's original Heisey. It does pop up here. Have you put it under a black light?

[Paul S.]

cypher - thanks for your comments re use, and I guess you were up very early today .    For a piece made in or before the mid thirties, it has retained an exceptionally unscratched bottom.    I do know that some 'custards' have a slightly everted rim as in this piece, so shape wise it is not too far from looking somewhat like a custard  -   but on reflection maybe my handle is perhaps the wrong shape  -  and so we will go with your Punch Cup, as the correct attribution.
thanks Christine  -  however, believe we may have another instance of the old problem of mis-reading the colour.    My apologies, I should have stated that this is clear glass, and I take it that you are seeing 'green'.  
P.S.  I notice that the 'spell check' doesn't recognize 'evert/everted' - amongst the alternatives offered was 'perverted'.  

[Lustrousstone]

No I'm not seeing green!!!! My monitor gives good colour rendering. If you put old clear glass under a black light, it often has a dull yellowish-greenish glow. This is because a lot of old glass used manganese as a decolorising agent (not only clear but coloured glass as well). A lot of the sand used contained iron (good sand being hard to find and expensive), which gives glass that old coke bottle hint of green. Manganese was never cheap and became superseded by cheaper decolorisers. Hence, older glass often glows under a UV light (you may need to test in the dark or at least shade, unlike for uranium), but rarely anything from probably about the late 1950s (that's a guess based on experience).

That is why not everything green that glows on ebay is uranium glass. Some gives a strong glow but it isn't the same as a uranium glow.

Manganese in glass is what causes sun purpling, or in the case of glass in the UK where the sun isn't exactly great, sun greying.

Try your light on glass other than uranium; you'll be surprised. it's not a definitive thing regarding age but it is a clue. The intensity of the glow varies with the amount of manganese, which why sometimes you can see it in daylight and sometimes not until you are in the dark.

[Paul S.]

Thanks Christine - you will understand my mis-direction, usually when we talk of using the torch it is for U. (and especially in view of the recent clear glass looking green episode  )    You and I have discussed before this matter of the slight/weak green reaction from clear glass - due to the manganese, and I do remember your tuition. - although had not remembered on this occasion.    Most, if not all, of my celerys do give quite a good green light show - since most pre 1940 (if you line up 20 odd pieces, they look really great in the dark).
Have now checked both this punch cup, and the Heisey celery from my other post today, and they do both indeed give a weak greenish glow under U.V. light.   So they do therefore contain manganese - and in all probability are pre 1950 as you surmise.
thanks again - will not forget this tip for future suspect old/new clear pieces.