Topic: Silver "Dorothy Thorpe" Frosted Barware Glasses

[horochar]

Last week on Mad Men I noticed they were using Dorothy Thorpe silver edged barware. Any chance these are also Thorpe designed pieces?  I found nothing comparable on the internet, but I'm hoping someone with expertise in the area can give me some guidance as to age, maker and designer.

Thanks,
Charles

[Ohio]

No these are not DT Silver Band. DT Silver Band was a single relatively small band of Silver at the top rim only. Not only that, but Thorpe didn't produce much "Allegro" which was a dull brushed Sterling band finish not the mirror polish finish of those pictured. Most of this stuff was produced by the company that bought her name & copyright in 1953 & they produced this line under the DT name much later plus alot of this "Old Gold" is made with Platinum, not silver. DT collectors don't touch this stuff because its not a DT "original" produced by her.

[horochar]

Thanks for the info. on DT.  This still, however, leaves most of my questions unanswered: age, producer, designer, country of origin.   I cannot find anything comparable on the internet (which also means I'll have a tricky time filling out the set).  Whatever they are, I doubt they would have been inexpensive to make. 

Charles.

[Ohio]

I contacted a couple of dedicated DT collectors (and they are more than knowledgable) I know & unfortunately the only thing known is most of this stuff is coming from France & all the label says is "made in France" with no manufacturer's name & of course these labels are easily removed & end up on eBay claiming to be DT. Easy to do because even the original DT glasses had the white with silver lettering labels which were usually removed by the buyer. I can tell you that the idea of this silver fade stuff ever coming from any WV manufacturer has been debunked by every single WV glass authority & reference author. These claims naming WV companies may only be accurate regarding the fact that the blanks may have been bought by Thorpe, but there has not been a soiltary shred of evidence that any U.S. manufacturer did this type of silver fade decoration with the exception of DT using raw blanks purchased from manufacturers & the company that bought her name in 1953. Doesn't help much I know so I guess you'll have to find a possible French connection. The DT company also had an operation in Mexico & who knows what was made there & where they got their blanks. I know with the amount of this stuff out there somebody outside the U.S. is obviously making it today.

[Ohio]

Found out some new info on Silver fade type glass. In the late 50s through the mid 60s (at least) there was a Queen's Lustreware out of Brooklyn NY that distributed it. You can Google them & see what was being distributed. It is not known if they were the original decorator or just a distributor...they did not manufacture glass. Evidently they were the major retailer of this stuff in the U.S. during this time period.