Imperial Nuart Homestead Purple Chop Plate
Description
I bought this striking 10 1/2" Imperial Nuart Homestead purple chop plate from my friend Rick Stockhill of Michigan. The iridescence is sensational. Homestead plates signed "Nuart" on the front (at about 5:00) are the most desirable version amongst collectors.
Rick told me he purchased it during the 6th Annual Sunshine State Carnival Glass (SSCGA) Convention auction, on January 31, 2004, which was held in Deerfield Beach, Florida that year. Deerfield Beach is 20 miles north of Fort Lauderdale.
This sale, conducted by Wroda Auctions, offered the collection of Eric & Teresa Stafford of Orrville, Ohio whom Jim Wroda says "color, scarcity, and rarity were number one with them" in their many years of collecting. I wish I could have met them. They had some beautiful things in their auction which took place just before my collecting days started.
This plate is such an exemplary example, so much so that Rick remembers when Tom Mordini included it in his "Best of the Best" rarities seminar in Indy in 2005. He called it the "quintessential piece of Carnival; a perfect pressing with perfect color. That's what makes the piece." Rick adds that it was the only non-high-priced item he'd ever seen Tom use in any of these rarities seminars.
The details are so fine. In photographing this plate up close, I focused in with my camera and I was startled to see a woman, wearing an apron, reaching for the bucket just drawn from the well. In her right hand, she holds a cup as she gets ready to have herself a drink of water....cool, cool water. She is so tiny, standing just half an inch tall, but the details are amazing, right down to her legs. Many people may have noticed a little human there before but I think they assumed it was a little man. I'm glad to have slowed down to take a better look. It's nice that this plate tells a little story with lots of movement, like her visit to the well, the water flowing under the bridge, the ducks are swimming making little waves, the sky is vibrant, and even the trees look alive.
The last three photos are from the Wroda Auction catalog. I think Jim Wroda's description say it all.
The Christina Katsikas Collection
