Once considered “Poor man’s Tiffany”, carnival glass has its own enthusiastic following!
Tiffany Effects for Mass Market Prices
At the turn of the 20th century, Louis Comfort Tiffany was producing his popular but pricey iridescent glass for eager buyers. Production glass makers such as Imperial, Northwood, Fenton, Dugan/Diamond, and Brockwitz, (a German manufacturer) and others developed a method of spraying mass produced, pressed glass pieces with metallic salts to produce shimmering effects for the mass market.
How Carnival Glass Got its Name
By 1905, glass manufacturers were cranking out inexpensive versions of iridescent glass, but the name carnival glass wasn’t used until 45 or so years later. The popular glass made in the U.S. Australia, Europe, and Argentina, was sold cheaply, and given away as prizes at carnivals.
Colorful Carnival Glass
The most popular colors of the carnival glass craze were marigold (orange) and amythist (purple). These were made in such large quantities, so today, pieces in these colors are easily found and go for lower sums. Harder to find are pieces in amber, grey-blue, or with a marbleized effect that looks like tortoiseshell. Fenton Glass produced red, the rarest color, in 1920.
Fenton & Northwood
The Fenton and Northwood companies, both of West Virginia, were the major U.S. manufacturers of carnival glass. Early Fenton carnival glass is unmarked, although the company reissued some pieces in the 1960’s using original molds. These are marked with a script Fenton inside an oval. Northwood marked most, but not all of its pieces on the bottom with an underlined N. Sometimes the N was inside a circles, and more rarely, inside a double circle.
Collectible Carnival Glass
Collectors with investment on their minds look for large or unusually shaped pieces in rare colors. Large bowls, or flat platters command the highest sums as they were harder to manufacture, and are now harder to find. Small, common, or badly executed pieces in common colors bring the lowest prices