Fenton Concord Grape Emerald Green Plate

There is something quite eye catching about Fenton’s Concord pattern. Maybe it’s the way that the background pattern of lattice (or fishnet) catches and enhances the iridescence of the piece --in much the same way that Imperial’s geometric patterns do. In any case the right amount of iridescence, correctly applied to the pattern, can result in pieces covered with stunning iridescence.

Our love of this pattern began when we were fortunate enough to win an amethyst Concord bowl with a 3-in-1 edge treatment at the 2008 Texas Carnival Glass Club convention auction of the Jack and Eleanor Hamilton collection. We fell in love with the pattern and started to look for it at subsequent auctions eventually finding that the 9-inch plates were what really caught our eye.

We saw beautiful examples (that were not in our price range) and many not so beautiful examples over the years – until we looked at the auction catalog for the 2015 Woodsland Worldwide Web Carnival Glass Association convention that was to be held in Wichita, Kansas. In that auction catalog was what was described as an electric green Concord plate. What caught our eye was that it seemed to be covered with blue iridescence so we decided then and there that we would need to attend the convention to see it in person. This was the very first wwwcga convention we had ever attended and we soon found out the very sad news that it was to be the very last. We drove the nine hours to Wichita and enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones during the convention. The theme of the convention was “The Emerald City,” with a presentation by Kenda and Bill Jeske titled “Kenda Visits the Emerald City”. There was also an open-to-all seminar where everyone got to talk about the Emerald Green pieces that they brought. Talk about serendipity! 

And then it was auction time. The green Concord plate was stunning and more beautiful than was pictured online and in the catalog. I can’t recall if there was anyone in the audience, or any absentee bidders, I only know that we were the winning bidders and Bob and I were both on cloud nine when it was placed in our hands! 

The Bob & Sandy Sage Collection