Once mistakenly regarded as funfair kitsch, carnival glass — charged with brilliant colour and a rich lustre — is now a worthy collectable.

By 1905 art nouveau was all the rage. Expensive ‘art‘ glass was in vogue, and American factories were soon mass producing affordable substitutes sold under exotic names such as Etruscan and Venetian. By spraying metallic salt solutions onto still hot moulded pieces, they could imitate the brilliant peacock-tail sheen and rich lustre of handmade Tiffany ‘Favrile’ glass. It was said that once the maid could afford to buy iridescent glass the mistress promptly lost interest in it, and the glass of Tiffany and his followers fell out of fashion in the 1920s. In the 5os a re-evaluation of the style began. Collectors and dealers were puzzled by the existence of so many moulded items with an iridescent finish. Their true history forgotten, the mass-produced pieces were incorrectly labelled ‘carnival glass‘ as they were assumed to have been used as prizes in funfairs. They are now collected worldwide and there is an active collectors’ society in London.

Antique Collection

The earliest pieces, sold by the Dugan Glass Co (renamed Diamond in 1913) in 1905, are opalescent, milky-edged forms with a simple golden lustre. Their curvaceous vase shapes hint at the soft organic lines of Art Nouveau. Pressed dishes with distinctive patterns and a rich iridescent finish were also mass-produced by the Fenton Art Glass CoGlass Co (the only one to mark all its glass, usually with an underlined ‘N’ in a circle) and Imperial Glass Co. Today only Fenton survives. from 1908. The main producers were all based in the Ohio valley and also included Northwood

The prime period of production lasted until 1918. The factories often used one another’s designs. Naturalistic leaf, fruit, flower and peacock motifs are typical, as are mythical creatures such as dragons; the most popular glass colours are clear, blue, purple and green. Dark colours generally fetch higher prices than light ones, with the colour known as ‘golden marigold’ being much the cheapest, and there is a premium on items with a particularly fine lustre. Condition is also important, and cracked pieces are valueless.

Outside North America

Carnival glass was exported from 1909, but by 1925 production had slumped in the United States. Factories in Europe, Australia and South America produced their own iridescent pressed glassware from the 1920s until 1939. In Britain, Sowerby’s of Gateshead used old moulds and plagiarised patterns to produce a variety of pieces with dark or golden lustres. In Germany, Brockwitz specialised in extensive matching suites of tableware in geometric, intaglio (incised) designs.

A revival of carnival glass production began in the United States in the late 1960s, often using old moulds. A factory in Portugal has recently reproduced some Northwood dishes, but these are relatively easy to distinguish as they have a harsh mirror-like lustre and a crudely forged Northwood mark..

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Carnival Glass