Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Paul ADK on May 25, 2006, 09:07:59 PM
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Today my wife and I purchased six large cartons of older pressed glass that had been sitting in an attic for many years. Now comes the fun part of trying to identify it all. We have all three of Florence's Pattern Identification Guides as well as Identifying Pattern Glass Reproductions by Jenks,Luna and Reilly.
We have been home four hours now and have only been able to identify four patterns. (A sugar and creamer made by Indiana Glass for Montgomery Wards in 1949, is the only one of the four that appears to have been manufactured later than the 1920's.) Many of the items look to be "one off" rather than part of a set - large bowls, fancy centerpieces, ash trays, and things of that nature I could swear are not to be found in the books we presently own. Any suggestion as to other books that might be helpful, would be greatly appreciated.
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Well quite a challenge I must say. The Florence books deal with depression glass and it could be possible that some of the glass is earlier. Here is where you would be getting into EAPG. The Jenks Luna book is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to EAPG. They have another called Early American Pattern glass 1850-1910. Another good one is Helen McCain's The collector's encyclopedia of Pattern glass. This book consists of line drawings and is divided into chapters that feature the main element of a design. So say you have a piece with circles as the main feature, you look in the section marked circles. Be prepared though it can make you blurry eyed after a time.
Photos would be a great help because then we would know exactly what period to look at. Terry
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Thanks Terry, that will give us a place to start.
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Bill Edwards & Mike Carwile "Standard Encyclopaedia of Pressed Glass", second edition 1860-1930, 366 pages with 5 ot 6 items per page in full colour is highly recommended.
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There is a website dedicated to correcting mistakes in EAPG books. You can view it as a guest (use guest as ID and guest as password - as per the instructions given). I have heard it said (allegedly) that the E&C books are full of mistakes; the website throws up 138.
http://eapglass.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi
Glen
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The book that I would recommend is Hazel Marie Weatherman's Colored Glassware of the Depression Era 2.
It has catalog pages in it of patterns not described elsewhere. Some of the pressed glas pieces you describe as "one-off's" maybe in it. I have had my book for 7-8 years and everytime I look through it I find pieces I never noticed before. It is the book I grab first when trying to identify a piece. It is out of print, but you can find used copies on eBay on through ABE.
For EAPG I agree with Terry, Ivo, and Glen. I use Edwards, Metz, and McCain.
Unless I am reasonably certain of the motif that the piece is going to be listed under in McCain's, then I use Edward's for browsing. I find the color pictures easier for an initial identification. But as Glen mentioned E&C's books are filled with mistakes, so I always verify the information in McCain or in Early American Pressed Glass by Metz.
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I do agree with Connie that Hazel Marie Weatherman's Colored Glassware of the Depression Era 2 is excellent. Likewise, I have sourced items in the catalog ads she shows. It's a fascinating book just to browse through!
Glen
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Thanks to everyone! We are off to the booksellers. I don't know that any of the glass we purchased is all that valuable, but some of it is certainly drop dead gorgeous!
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you may find it hard to locate a copy of Weatherman Vol 1 or 2 in a bookstore as they have been out of print for many years.
Best is to check eBay and Amazon as they do sometimes become available there.
Vol 1 is a small book that is nonethless interesting, but the large volume 2 is, as the others have already mentioned, a GEM for identifying glass from the Depression era. It is good to have the two together as she doesnt repeat in vol 2 what she has in vol 1