Northwood "Corn Vase" Aqua Opal Vase

~ ~ Carnival Glass Dreams ~ ~

A couple of years ago, Mitchell Stewart was telling me that he has seen an aqua opal corn vase in Sparta, Tennessee. Mitchell had tried to purchase the vase several years before that, however, the gentleman wasn’t ready to sell because he had fond memories of it belonging to his mother.

This spring, I was at an estate sale in Sparta, TN when low and behold, on a table full of carnival glass, sat an aqua opal Corn Vase. I was in disbelief of what I was seeing. I knew this had to be the vase that Mitchell had told me about. Then the excitement began. It was Lot # 624 and they started at Lot #1. So, I scanned the crowd anticipating my competition. I then called my wife because I was afraid that I would not have enough cash with me to pay for it. She said not to worry, just buy it.

When it came time for the vase, they started it out at $5. It went at $5 increments until it got to $400, then jumping $50 at a time. My heart starting beating wildly! I finally got the vase for $550. I was so excited, everyone around me thought I had lost my mind.

The family came to me asking why I had gotten so excited about this piece of glass, wanting to know what was the importance of it? They then told me that originally there were two of them, an identical pair, and they remember one had gotten knocked off the mantel during a pillow fight when they were kids. They said their dad had told them it was very valuable, but they didn’t believe him.

As soon as I paid for the vase, I took my prize to the truck and immediately called Mitchell and asked him if he knew a man by the name of Roger Moore. He hesitated, then he said yes.....and he knew where I was going with this question. I then asked him if he was the man that had the Corn Vase that he once told me about and he said, "Yes". I told him the vase was in the front seat of my truck, which caused Mitchell to reply that the man had promised to sell it to him when he decided to sell. I then told Mitchell that the man had passed and his family sold the vase at an estate sale.

We are all looking for that “special find” in carnival glass, “the needle in the haystack” that seems impossible to find. This is what carnival glass dreams are made of.

The Scott & Suzanne Sheffield Collection