Cambridge Nearcut No. 2340 Venetian Green "Lamp Base" & "Vase"

Most reference material calls this "Venetian" vase a giant rose bowl although it does not curve inward or "cup in" like one. Traditional rose bowls are generally spherical with a small opening. The sides curve out from the bottom pedestal base and go straight up, like the shape of an upside down acorn, leaving a 5 1/2 inch opening. The saw-tooth, footed pedestal base is also 5 1/2 inches wide. The total height is 9 1/4 inches but it has a larger than life presence. It weighs 5 pounds!

There are obvious similarities, especially in the pedestal and base, with the Hobstar & Feather Rose Bowl made by Millersburg. The Venetian has 32 teeth and a 32-ray star on its base whereas the Hobstar & Feather has 36 teeth and a 36-rayed star base with a concave center. The idea is similar but it is certainly not the same. I hear say that Cambridge and Millersburg had a good working relationship. Cambridge was in production first, second only to Fenton and Millersburg came later on. Diane Fry believes Cambridge had the Millersburg factory iridize their glass. This could explain why a shard from a Venetian vase was found on the Millersburg grounds.

 

          

In a side by side comparison, the Millersburg amethyst Hobstar & Feather rose bowl (left) and the Venetian lamp base/vase make look alike at first glance but they are not the same.

The color of the base glass is a true green, like an emerald stone, and the iridescence around the band on top has Emerald Green highlights, that is, a radium blue color on green glass (and a trait Millersburg is so famous for!). There are pinks and blues in all the crevasses of a pattern that appears to be cut into the glass; however, it is pressed, hence the name "Nearcut".  Although most of the Nearcut line is stamped "Near Cut", these Venetian vases were not signed. Note: I was told at the Cambridge Museum that the name Nearcut was all one word in the original Cambridge catalogs and is the proper spelling. It was spelled NEAR CUT when it was signed on the glass itself.

It was made from a 4-part mould with a pattern that is chock full of different motifs including fans, files, hobstars, diamonds, chrysanthemums, and stars. I can't help but notice how it looks like a wide-eyed owl.

Now here is a twist I did not see coming. When I bought it at the 2018 Tampa Bay Burns Auction, Tom Burns mentioned after the auction that he'd read somewhere online that this vase was actually a kerosene lamp "base" that once had a fitted tank, burner, chimney, and matching shade. Sure enough, Dean & Diane Fry had written an article about it on Carnival Glass 101 and they showed the catalog photo of it standing, in all its glory, as a beautiful lamp. Perhaps this is why it's so heavy. When I started this article, I purchased a book on Amazon titled Cambridge, Ohio Glass in Color--Book II, published in 1973, so I could read the section Diane Fry mentions, written by Lyle & Lynn Welker and Mary Adams, about this "lamp".

It doesn't look probable that I (or anyone else) may ever find the matching shade for it. That is okay. It makes a beautiful vase and I never would have imagined it to be a lamp. I can imagine how it must have shined and twinkled to beat the band when it was in use over a hundred years ago. Below is the catalog ad page from 1909.

There are only a dozen of these lamp base~vases known in green and maybe three marigold ones have been reported. My friend and noted glass enthusiast Jim McClure has informed me that the pattern originated at the Ohio Flint Glass Co. known as "Kenneth" and was signed "Krys-Tol". Kenneth was made in different shapes including vases, bowls, table sets, and pitchers. Jim's vase is shown below in crystal. He purchased it from Paul Kirk, Jr., who also wrote in to say: 

"Early carnival items utilised existing moulds that were generally issued in clear or opalescent glass. Look at all the very early carnival items and you will see that. Once the popularity for iridescent glass was determined, new moulds were made exclusively for it (bowls and plates needed an interior pattern to really play the game properly). And yet, that is not to say that those moulds were not used for other types of glass (including opalescent, custard, etc) from that point forward. Clear and other colors were still made concurrently with iridescent wares. Yes, I have seen the complete lamp, with shade, in clear." ~ Paul Kirk, Jr.

Thank you to both gentlemen for their input. Your thoughts and information are much appreciated!

Now is a good time to also mention that Cambridge had some pattern names for their crystal glass that were not necessarily carried over to the Carnival Glass realm either. They acquired new identities along the way by various Carnival Glass pioneers which differentiates crystal from iridized. For example, the Cambridge glass pattern name "Marjorie" acquired the name "Sweetheart" in its Carnival Glass form. The pattern name "Feather " became "Inverted Feather", "Thistle" became "Inverted Thistle" and "Strawberry" is now known as "Inverted Strawberry" in the Carnival Glass world today..

My friends at the auction all agreed this particular vase has the best iridescence of any they had ever seen. I have to agree. Here is a good sample of vases I found on Seeck Auctions that have been sold in the past including one in marigold. I have my suspicions that three of the four green ones shown are one in the same, photographed under three different conditions, sold three times.

Photos courtesy Seeck Auctions.

The Christina Katsikas Collection