GIANT PAGODA VASE Part I
~ As told by the original owner, Bob Patterson ~
as written many moons ago for the
Southern California Carnival Glass Club Newsletter.
Occasionally a Carnival Glass Collector finds a mystery piece on which there no information available. Such is the case with this large funeral vase I found at a local swap meet. This strange vase stands a stately 17” high and 5 1/2" across the six sided base. The base glass is amethyst and it has a thin ribbed interior pattern. It boasts a curious mix of ribs, lines and bulls eyes. The bottom half of the vase is mostly gold and silver and the upper half has a bright radium multicolor finish. The iridescence on the inside is gold.
With no information available, the age, manufacturer and country of origin will remain a big mystery at this time. I posted the vase on the wwwcga online identification site and no one knew anything about it. I don’t think it is new but if it is, others will turn up in short order. The majority of collectors who have seen it guess that it could be from Argentina. I believe it was not made in America and agree that Argentina could be the source of this strange vase.
I thank John Lee for commenting that its design looked like it was influenced by a Japanese pagoda. I named it "Giant Pagoda" to emphasize that it meets the base and height measurements that are required to qualify it as a funeral vase. John feels that Riihimaki may have made this vase because of some common design features from this Finish Glass Manufacturer.
Being the only known Carnival Glass collector having one of these vases in his possession, I get the honor of naming it. I’m calling it the “Giant Pagoda” vase and will keep an eye out for any other examples. Meanwhile, Shirley and I will enjoy having an “only known” [at that time] in our collection.
Bob Patterson, Founder of the Giant Pagoda
GIANT PAGODA VASE Part II
A Maker Has Been Established!
~ As written by Mike Carwile ~
Thought to be of European origin, this is an interesting but somewhat odd looking vase. There are only two of these Pagoda vases reported to date and both are approximately 17” tall. The one you see pictured here belongs to Christina Katsikas and the other one known was purchased by Father Gabriel Talley on eBay in 2012 as he mentions in his August 2013 post on Woodsland. The following account has helped us establish the maker of this vase.
In 2006, I found listings on eBay for several boxes of glass shards which were stated as having been dug from the glass factory dump site located in Indiana, Pennsylvania referred to as the "Helman Digs". Indiana, PA was the location of operation of various glass companies.
Eventually I bought all these shards, a total of over three hundred pounds. I spent several years going over them, one box at a time, cleaning and separating them into various categories. It was extremely time consuming and intensive work so I found it was necessary to take long breaks in between these sessions. At times I would take almost a whole year off before starting back up, due to the time involved and my regular work schedule.
It was February 21, 2013, seven years later, that I had the time and decided to finish sorting through the remaining few boxes. It was that late date in February that I started to get into some interesting pieces and began to identify many patterns of various types of glass that had not been attributed to the correct makers at that time. If that was not exciting enough, I then ran across a large chunk of something I was sure I had seen before.
I immediately opened my 12th Edition of the Carnival Glass Encyclopedia to the listing “Pagoda”, took one look at the base of that vase and Wham! it was a spot on match. I was holding in my hand a 4 1/2" section of the base to the Giant Pagoda vase in a deep purple color. It was faintly iridized in multiple hues as you can see in the photos. I wish you could experience the excitement and adrenaline the came over me at this moment. It was a profound experience. Sad thing is, Collector Books closed before I could tell the collector world of my findings.
I soaked it overnight, brushed it, and used old dental picks to remove the remaining hard dirt in the small, hard to reach places of this intricate pattern. After a light coat of Olive oil, letting it sit overnight, then drying it, the shard was ready to display.
While more than one company made glass at the Indiana, PA factory, only the Dugan and Diamond Glass companies made Carnival Glass there. I strongly believe that Dugan is the best candidate (over Diamond Glass Company) to have made this vase due to the dark purple color that, as you can see, has a reddish or oxblood color when held to the light which Dugan was so well known for. Either way, it is certainly an intended Carnival glass pattern that did not go to full production due to unknown reasons.
I had a recent discussion with Tom Burns after the HOACGA convention where he spoke of this vase in the seminar he conducted on Whimseys & Oddities. He started the discussion out with the strong belief that this vase was definitely European of origin because he felt the silvery overspray iridescence on the underside was not something Dugan would have done. I explained it was not made with a snap ring which would have protected the base from the light coat of overspray. Instead it was tacked onto a punty rod and broken off later which explains the rough glass ring on its underside. Tom thought hard of any other vase that was made this way by Dugan and, in a light bulb moment, he came up with the Lined Lattice vase, the square footed version in particular with it's spread out feet, which also had that silvery over-spray because it was not held with a snap ring. Hmm. I can't say for certain he is a believer as I suspect he still has reasonable doubt that Dugan may have made this Pagoda vase.
Thanks to Carnival Glass Showcase I am able to share this discovery with you at last. I knew I may never get a chance to buy one of these vases and sit it beside the shard to display. For years I thought I was waiting for nothing but I've been hoping and waiting. Now, the day has come, for in light of Christina's recent acquisition, I find there is no better time to make this long overdue announcement by co-writing this article with her. We've spent several hours on the telephone exchanging and comparing notes to bring you the full story of this very unusual vase which has been shrouded in mystery since its discovery.
Shard & shard photos property of Mike Carwile. Please ask for permission to copy.
DUGAN GIANT PAGODA VASE Part III
~ As Written by Christina Katsikas ~
I purchased this massive funeral vase from Gary Lickver during the April 2015 Heart of America Carnival Glass Association Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. He purchased it a while ago at the March 7, 2009 San Diego/Southern California Carnival Glass Convention auction held in Ontario, California. This sale was conducted by Seeck Auctions, featuring the collection of Bob & Shirley Patterson from Southern California. I have included photos of the auction catalog and description.
Gary had promised it to me long before the HOACGA convention and I was excited to share it here on Showcase with Mike Carwile's thrilling (in my opinion) story of the shard he found which led to the discovery of its maker. Gary knew about the shard since Mike shared it with him a while ago and promised he would keep his discovery a secret until its reveal here on Showcase.
At the HOACGA convention, Gary and I both agreed that it should be displayed in the Whimsies & Oddities seminar organized by Bob Grissom, President of HOACGA. At seventeen inches tall, this vase was a little intimidating around a crowd of people, especially because it has a slight wobble, so it was decided it should be laid on its side during the seminar, as you can see in the photos and in this video at exactly 11:37 minutes into the Tom Burns Whimsies & Oddities seminar brought to us by the WWWCGA.
It truly is a giant compared to most vases. It's the Grand Daddy of them all. Its thick walls make it quite hefty, weighing in at just over four pounds with a 9" circumference that makes me feel I'm grasping a boa constrictor. Three quarters of the way up it gradually becomes narrower where it starts to stretch out from having been swung.
I counted 80 horizontal ribs which go all the way up and run completely around the vase uninterrupted, dipping down, then up and then down again over each corner, creating the illusion of beaded rows going up the side of each section. The concentration of ribs where the vase wasn't stretched towards the base had six to seven ribs per inch so I'm estimating it was originally between 10" and 12" tall before it was swung to its final height of 17". The first three jewels measure 1" long. Then they increase to 1.5" long with the top one stretched to a full 2" long.
Along the bottom edge, I can see three vertical mould lines going up on three of the six corners so it was made from a three-part mould. Then, a horizontal mould line runs completely around the lower edge. The base looks like a circle with petals which is 5.25" at its widest which qualifies it to be a funeral vase. Underneath, it is concave and completely smooth except for a thin circle of rough, sharp glass that had been snapped off and chipped away.
There are six tips around the 6.25" wide opening which have three points each or better put, one tip with lower shoulders, like a Fleur de Lis. Other Dugan vases that hint of this same style of points are Dugan's Target and Paneled Tree Trunk vases.
The interior has its own pattern of well defined vertical ribs which run from the top of the tips to the bottom. When lifted to the light, a delightful cross-hatching design can be seen where the outer horizontal ribs cross over the interior vertical ribs as seen in close-ups here. Notice the oxblood color in these interior photos Mike spoke about that Dugan was so well known for. Very pretty.
The iridescence is radium yet soft and dreamy too in blues, pinks and greens. The parts that show gold are very shiny like 14K gold. For an "only-two-known" item, I am happy it is as pretty as it is.
Gary Lickver was very hesitant to sell it to me. He really liked it a lot and he had to pull if from his private collection at my urging. He relented, knowing it was going to a good home here on Showcase. Many thanks to Gary for that. He and I will be good friends forever.
I also want to thank my friend Mike Carwile for all his work resulting in its maker's discovery and his encouragement for me to buy it. I admire his dedication to our hobby. Also, a big "Thank You" to Bob & Shirley Patterson who discovered it back in the 90's at a swap meet in Long Beach, California and gave it a really cool name.
I will always remember the teamwork and camaraderie we all shared for the love of this piece of history. Long live the Dugan Giant Pagoda Vase!
This actual vase is from the Christina Katsikas Collection
DUGAN GIANT PAGODA VASE PART IV
~As told by Christina for Father Gabriel Talley~
After this article was first published, I invited Father Gabriel Talley to join us here in our story of the Giant Pagoda vase and he graciously joined us. The last four pictures are of the Giant Pagoda vase he purchased on Ebay back in 2012 along with other pictures of his collection.
He says, "I found it on Ebay and realized that it had to be scarce since I could not find any information on it. I shared the information I had with the Woodsland Club and got their responses [as to its possible origin]. I was contacted by the former owner of Christina's vase [Gary Lickver] regarding his vase and we shared notes. I wonder if there are any others out there?"
Thank you, Father Talley, for sharing these wonderful pictures of yourself and your collection with the second known Giant Pagoda vase.
