Fenton Indiana State House Blue Souvenir Commemorative Plate ~ 1st Known

This plate once belonged to Grace and Byron Rinehart who purchased it at a Woody Auction sale in 1974. About 37 years later it was sold during their auction on Novermber 11, 2011 by Jim Wroda Auctions at their old Greenville, Ohio location. It was the Wroda's 2011 yearly Customer Appreciation Weekend Auction. Doug and the late Karen Engel purchased it then. Shown below is the catalog photo for that auction, courtesy Jim Wroda auctions.

About six years later, Karen Engel passed away and her collection was offered to the public, per her wishes, to be sold by Jim Wroda on June 16 & 17, 2017. Karen chose the American Carnival Glass Association Convention to host her collection at the Wroda Greenville, Ohio facilty. Her Indiana State House plate was Lot No. 1 of several lettered pieces in that iconic sale. This auction was the first in Carnival Glass history to gross over a million dollars. It took two full days to sell her collection, chock-full of beauty and rarity. I could not attend but my friends Dick & Sherry Betker were there and bid for me. Here is a photo of the catalog for that auction.

This plate was the original one reported and for many years it was thought to be the only one known. I had located another one from West Virginia a few years ago and now I have both of them together again. They are slightly different from one another. There is also a third plate known owned by Dr. Steve Gregg who held a seminar at the 2017 ACGA convention just before the lettered pieces of Karen Engel's collection sold.

This one proved to be flatter than the other measuring 7 3/4 " wide and stands 1" high.

My other one is 7 5/8" wide and stands 1 1/4" tall.

It doesn't sound like a big difference but it is noticeable how much flatter this one is. 

For me, the most amazing thing about them is how pretty they are. Here's the twist I never saw coming. Both have the exact same iridescence in exactly the same places. I don't know how the iridescence was applied but it seems as if it had to be hand-painted on to get such exact colors. Each window is the same color, the domes are both gold, the colors on the flag are exactly alike, and the vertical lines of the building are all duplicated for color. It's a mystery. Even the lettering is the same. It's uncanny (and a privledge) to hold both and see this similarity on such minute details. They are so equal that I would not be able to choose one over the other.

I would like to thank Jim Wroda for helping me verify the two past owners of this precious piece of history on a plate. I really appreciate you!

The Christina Katsikas Collection