Cambridge Nearcut No. 2651 Inverted Feather Marigold Whimsey Spittoon or Cuspidor

I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit John Rogers and his lovely wife Patricia at their home in Kittrell, North Carolina during my trek home to New Hampshire from the February 2015 Tampa Bay Florida Convention. Snowstorms were hitting New England one after the other dropping relentless amounts of snow in blizzard form so my plane ticket home just disintegrated. I decided this was a great opportunity to seize the moment and make it the best Carnival Glass road trip ever.

John and Pat immediately invited me to come see them when I called to ask if they wanted some company. They offered to share their collection along with the great conversation it would evoke, have some supper afterwards and then have me stay the night. They even made plans for breakfast for the next morning, all in the same breath. I couldn't believe how anxious they were to accommodate me, but then, you see, they have been inviting me to come see them for the last eight years now. This visit was very long overdue. After visiting the Rogers I further planned a bonus visit to see my good friend Mike Carwile who lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was only two hours north of John's house. It's funny but just a couple of weeks prior, Mike had told me he never dreamed he'd get to meet me in person because his home is not close to any well known convention venues. Well, as Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!". I called Mike to tell him the two cute little leaning vases I bid on for him at the Tampa convention auction would not be mailed to him as originally planned. Instead, I would be delivering those to his home in person, Special Delivery via Jeep Cherokee. Now that's what I call 1st Class all the way!

I acquired this darling little Cambridge Inverted Feather marigold spittoon from John Rogers that day. He said it was "one of a kind" (OOAK) and had never seen or heard of another one like it. He pointed out where it was signed Near-Cut at the bottom of the inside. How exciting it was to find a piece of Cambridge Carnival Glass, let alone a possibly "only one known" piece. I asked him who owned it before him and all he could remember is that he purchased it at auction in Florida a long time ago. It had a beautiful glow, more like an actual halo of pinks and blues all around the top of it. I just couldn't resist it. I'm so weak. I'll admit it right now. I truly am when it comes to whimsies.  I had a wonderful stay and after breakfast the next morning I was off to visit Mike Carwile.

When I got to Mike's house it was a flurry of "Show & Tell" and he fell in love with this crazy little spittoon and said he had never seen or heard of one in all the years he's been involved in Carnival glass. He immediately hit the books to research what shape it was made from. He finally found the ad showing several pieces of Near-Cut crystal in the Inverted Feather pattern in  the 1908 Butler Brothers Catalog. Mike pointed out that In this case there were actually two items that shared the same mould that this spittoon was whimsied from. One piece was listed as the "5 in. footed nut bowl" and the other piece was listed as a "4 1/2" high, footed jelly, cupped pattern". These two items are made from the same mould but shaped differently. The nut bowl was flared out a bit and the footed jelly was cupped in. Click on the catalog page again to enlarge it for some wonderful details and a look into the past. At the top of the ad, you'll see this collection of different pieces available in this pattern was called a "Top Notch" Cask Assortment, a cask being another name for the barrel they would package this glass assortment in. Imagine receiving ten dozen sets like all the pieces shown in a barrel weighing 200 pounds! There is no real name mentioned for this pattern in the ad which we know today as Inverted Feather.

The foot of this spittoon measures 3" wide. Its total height is only 3" high so it lost and inch and a half from being choked in. It has a top diameter of 4 3/8". Cute? You bet! and so small it fits in the palm of my hand.

So, Cambridge was the second company to begin making iridized glass starting in 1908, right after Fenton started making Carnival Glass first in 1907. Then they made more pieces of Carnival from 1916-1917 and probably again in the mid to late 1920's. Due to the fact Carnival Glass was a hot commodity during the first two years of production for Cambridge, Mike feels they would not have taken the time to create whimsey pieces at that time. They surely needed to focus on pumping out as much product as possible to take advantage of sales during this boom. I agree with Mike this little cuspidor was probably produced around the second period of their Carnival Glass production in 1916 or 1917. 

I want to express my gratitude to Mr. & Mrs. John Rogers for graciously inviting me into their home with such short notice. I cannot express how beautifully they have displayed their outstanding collection amongst the many sprawling rooms in their home out in the country. John has been my role model for many years and I hold him directly responsible for my extensive punch bowl collection which is now gently nudging me out of my home. I didn't know this about John but I found he is quite the connoisseur of Vaseline Carnival Glass. He is quick on the draw with the black light he carries in his pocket and his glass puts on quite the show! I am very proud of his accomplishments in our hobby and I hope to go back and visit him again at a time when I can absorb and learn more of his great collection. Who am I kidding? I will always be overwhelmed at his home no matter how many times I visit.

I also would like to thank Mike Carwile for helping me research this piece and how he, too, invited me to come see him in only a moment's notice. I am appointing him Head of Intelligence for Showcase!  About a month later, he located a picture taken by the late Kris Remmen of Remmen Auctions. Kris & Debbie Remmen would donate beautiful photos to Mike Carwile & Bill Edwards,  from their auction catalogues, so they could be used for illustrations in the Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass. Please see picture #13  which was labeled " Inverted Feather Only 1 Known Remmen 2006".

Now that it was narrowed down to a Remmen Auction, who performed the Tampa Bay Club conventions in Florida, I could go back to the 2006 auction catalog. I found it but it was not sold in that auction. I searched the the year before and the year after and there it was, in the 2007 convention auction held in Lakeland, Florida that year. The information didn't say who's collection was being sold. The last picture, photo #14, shows it in that catalog. The catalog description said it was the only one known so far and that the auctioneers, Kris & Debra Remmen of Oregon, had never seen or heard of another one. During that same auction, a Cambridge Inverted Strawberry marigold whimsey spittoon was also sold just before this one that day. An inquiry to the auction house may tell us who the previous owner was.

I emailed Debbie Remmen to ask who she sold it for. She remembered it well and tells me it had belonged to Bev Franzen from Portland, Oregon. Many thanks to Debbie for the provenance.

The Christina Katsikas Collection