Fenton Little Fishes Marigold Chop Plate

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

One thing for sure, it's the only one of all. Finally I have a chance to introduce to you the one and only famed Fenton "Little Fishes" marigold chop plate. Many of you have only heard about it and some of you have actually seen it at a convention, such as Tampa Bay, where I first saw it in a room display by Tom & Sandy Monoski. Tom's name is synonymous with this Little Fishes Chop Plate which he owned for several years. He shared it often at talks and seminars and it has brought joy to many a chop plate collector to hold this jewel.

Tom told me he had a friend, in the day, who would scour the flea markets and shows looking for Carnival Glass for him as a picker. One morning he got a call from his friend who was at a flea market and asked Tom if he would be interested in two plates, one marigold one that was perfect and one in blue that had some damage. At that time, Tom opted for the perfect one, leaving the damaged one behind. When Tom received the marigold one he was very ecstatic and realized he should have had his friend buy both of them since these were chop plates, unheard of in this pattern at that time. When his friend went back for the blue one, the dealer had packed and was gone. No name or number was known for this dealer. All contact was lost.

Tom and Sandy knew their plate was special so one day they visited the Fenton factory. They asked the receptionist if the owner Frank Fenton would be interested in seeing their chop plate. When Frank saw the plate, he asked his secretary to cancel the rest of the appointment that day because he wanted to spend it with the Monoskis and their beautiful plate.

Frank studied the plate very intently. He determined it was a prototype made by an employee who created the mould as a new item  for his father to approve. This mould maker used "Orange Tree" as the back pattern. He thought that perhaps these two patterns combined on a clear base glass (used to make marigold) may have been deemed, by his father, to be "too busy". This is because when the plate was held in hand, the Orange Tree peeked strongly through and mixed in with the Little Fishes pattern on the front. Now, this could explain why such a thick iridescence had been applied to it. It had been "doped" several times. He said workers would have it doped extra to win the "Old Man" over so he would approve their moulds for production. He also assumed it would be too costly and take too long to produce this plate the same way on the production line so it was rejected.

You can see the photos of Frank Fenton in his office pondering the plate. He was very taken by it and asked Tom & Sandy if they would like to leave it in his museum, there in the factory. Tom explained he had just recently purchased it and thought he would like to enjoy for himself a bit longer (years!) and politely turned him down. Frank was gracious and gave Tom & Sandy a tour of the plant and the museum, accompanied with his grandson.

This plate exceeds the 10" wide rule at 11 1/8" wide. The base is large at 3 7/8" across....the same as its cousin, the Birds & Cherries chop plate. It is most photogenic and best viewed at a slanted position. It just jumps and comes alive at certain angles.

Fast forward a few years, I visited Tom in his room at the 2014 Tampa Bay Convention room display in February where he showed me the chop plate, as he promised he would from the year before at this convention. I fell in love with it and so did everyone who came into his room. We agreed on a price and I told him I would visit him in a couple of months at his home in Pennsylvania to purchase it. I made the road trip in April during which I also procured other important items: a blue Indiana State House plate from another person, and also the Indianapolis Soldiers & Sailiors Monument Plate from another person. That was one exciting trip having purchase three major Fenton rarities at one time.!

Tom & Sandy were very melancholy to see it go. They had owned it for so long. They seemed hesitant to part with it but they honored the deal we made. After I bought it, they confided with me something very shocking. For years, they had searched and waited in vain to find the damaged blue one that they lost out on all those years ago. Their mission was to someday reunite the two prototype plates together, knowing there were no others like these out there. On that DAY in April, April 1st to be exact, they had just gotten word from Tom Mordini that the blue one had been found and it was theirs. How ironic was that? that after all those years they picked April Fool's Day to sell it too me, just when they found the blue one. Fortunately we are great friends and someday we will do a seminar together with these marigold and blue ones united, as well as with other rare examples Tom has collected of this exquisite pattern.

Shown also is the room display at the Tampa Bay Convention of 2014 called "Let's Go Fishing!" where I first saw this chop plate. Tom included his father's fishing net and tackle in memory of him.

The next photo down is of myself & Tom to commemorate the occassion and then a photo of him and his lovely wife Sandy to the right of Diane and Dick Wetherbee at the Tampa Convention. The rest of the photos were taken on the day I visited them at their Pool Table supplies business where they also ran an actual pool hall. It took the better part of the whole day for Tom & Sandy to show me their collection and I swear we only touched the surface of it.

I am proud to call these avid, long time Carnival Glass collectors my friends.

Since the writing of this article, Tom & Sandy presented their blue example to me at the New England Club Convention in September of 2016. Please visit the Tom & Sandy Monoski's  Little Fishes Blue Chop Plate.

The Christina Katsikas Collection