If you’ve ever wondered what any piece of Carnival Glass looked like right out of the mold, without being shaped, then you’re not alone. I’ve always tried to imagine the mold proof shapes on many pieces. However, I never seemed to think of what a ground base enameled tumbler would look like before the collar base was ground off until I ran across this unexpected find recently; A cobalt blue “Enameled Cherries" tumbler with collar base, 4" tall. This could have been made by Fenton or Northwood. Each one produced this exact pattern. Please read more about the pattern, and its many other names, here on
Dave Doty's Field Guide.
As hard as I’ve searched so far, I have not found a single example with the collar base left on it that was shown in any book, nor on any website. So, I can assume that up until now it’s possibly the only reported example, and certainly considered "Very Rare".
A possible theory as to why this tumbler’s base wasn’t ground off, could be that as the decorator started to apply the enameled design, they discovered they had started to paint it right in the middle of an obvious, more distinctly raised mold seam than usual and it was rejected, never having reached the grinding process. In other words it was a second. I haven’t looked at other examples yet to see if any were decorated right in the middle of the seam, but will certainly remember to do so when I see others. I would say that if a particular mold had 4 seams, it should be harder to avoid the seam when decorating the tumbler than it would be with a 2 part mold. Just a thought.
The last photo is courtesy of Dave Doty from his website so you can see and compare what these tumblers normally look like.
There are still many new Carnival Glass patterns, shapes and variations out there to be found, so always be on the lookout.
It’s a great piece that I am enjoying each day. I will say that it’s somewhat of a shame, and a bit odd, that it was decorated in the middle of a mold seam, but I don’t care. I’m just happy to have located it.
I’d love to hear from anyone who owns one of these or has seen another example, no matter if others show up and turns this one into the category of just simply “Rare” or “Scarce”.
The Mike Carwile Collection
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Since the writing of this article, Mike Carwile had been in touch with Dr. Jim Measell, Fenton Glass Historian. Here is what he had to say:
"The tumblers with ground bottoms that do not have mould joint marks were made in a one-piece "block mould" (see p. 31 of the 1979 book on Greentown glass for a photo of a press shop using block moulds).
The tumblers with the two joint marks and a marie were made in a typical two part joint mould.
Although Northwood and Fenton could each have made the tumblers both ways, the joint mould production would likely be more economical because it eliminates the cold metal operation. Dr. Jim Measell"
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In July of 2016, Greg Lockhart, a well known tumbler collector, writes, "I have read this article regarding the Enameled Cherries tumbler with the base. I own three, two with white cherries and one with red over white.
In my 35 years of collecting this tumbler seems to be unknown by a lot of carnival collectors (and auctioneers), even those who like the enameled glass.
It is shown in Cecil Whitley’s little book “The World of Enameled Carnival Glass Tumblers” which is now out of print. In her book it is not shown with the other photos of cherry tumblers, but further back (alphabetically) and called “Spring Festival”, named originally by John Britt. I have seen 2 or 3 in auctions over the years and the auctioneer didn’t know its rarity."
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Greg Lockhart also sent in this article he had originally written for Lincoln Land and says, "I found the marigold tumbler on the left on eBay a few years ago, and later found 4 more like it at a mall here in Wisconsin, but it was paired with a Columbine pitcher. No one seemed to know what they were so we named them "Enameled Aster". Later I spoke with Cecil Whitley about it and she said she thought she might have owned one at one time but didn't show it in her booklet "The World of Enameled Carnival Glass Tumblers" because she had never seen another one. I don't know if there was one in her auction or not. Perhaps someone out there knows of more of them or more about them. My excess four tumblers are now in the collections of fellow Lincoln Land members.
The center tumbler appears to be a blue Forget-Me-Not pattern without a prism band, shown with a regular prism band tumbler (camera distortion!). It was purchased on eBay about six years ago along with three of the same pattern. When I contacted Carnival Glass 101 about it, they said that Bob Smith had also bought four of these on eBay sometime earlier. All eight came from the state of Washington! Bob's research found that his four had been in the estate of John "Honey-Fitz" Fitzgerald, father of Rose Kennedy and grandfather of JFK, and probably went to Washington with some of the heirs. In my opinion they might go with the unbanded Forget-Me-Not pitchers that show up from time to time on eBay. Again, if anyone knows of more of these or more about please let me know."
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Thank you to Greg Lockhart for writing in about this most interesting subject. Christina
