Northwood Pulled Husk Corn Vase Purple to Amethyst

Gary Lickver found this vase during his trek from San Diego on his way to Denver. He stopped in at an antiques group shop and saw this sitting in a glass showcase. Judging from the tag, the dealer knew what it was but the price was not commensurate with the piece. It was less than one tenth the value of others that sold in the past. He described it as a "Rare Open Husk Northwood Purple Corn Vase". He may have taken the price of a regular purple Northwood Corn Vase, which is very hard to find as well, and used its price. Those will sell for about what he was asking for this one. We will never know his reasons for the price but Gary was not about to ask or complain. 

There was an elderly lady who opened the case for him. She reached in to pull it out for him in a way that made Gary very nervous. When he told her he would like to ask the dealer for a better price, she tucked the corn vase under her arm while she worked on closing the glass case to lock it. Gary was quite unnerved at the thought of her dropping it so he offered to hold it for her and walk it to the desk. She said with great concern that she would get into trouble if she let him carry it so she let him bring it to within ten feet of the register and he handed it back to her so she could be the one presenting it to the cashier. They called the dealer and he shaved fifty dollars off the price and Gary agreed to buy it. He had just purchased the best glass find of his glass career and was just thrilled to have it. He had seen just a few of these Pulled Husk Corn vases because they are extremely rare and scarce but they all had a golden bronze iridescence. Never had he seen one that was so colorful and knew it was very special and most likely the prettiest one known.

Gary brought it with him to the April 2017 Heart of America Carnival Glass Convention (HOACGA) to show it in the "My Favorite Things" seminar. He told his story and let everyone get a good look at it. He would later bring it to New England and offered to sell it to me at the Brimfield Antiques Market in Massachusetts in May 2017.

We talked about four of these vases coming up in a life long collection in the auction of the late Karen Engel of Portland, Oregon to be held on June 17, 2017 that everyone was eagerly anticipating. These included a green one with unique roping around the base and stem and three amethyst ones like mine with three different whimsey shaped tops shown here below.

One is cupped in with the husks pulled out and looped into handles, the other is straight up and the third is flared out. Notice how much taller the green one is than the purple ones. It was swung and twisted slightly. It's really a beautiful piece of work. It does have an stress inclusion as a result of the manipulation of its shape and changing temperatures that has been there since its making but it's not visible when displayed. Stress cracks or inclusions are inherent to these vases from the way they were whimsied and should not affect their value. They are not through and through cracks made from physical damage but are inclusions inside the thick walls that are stable. It's a wonderful piece of history with a story to tell of its creation and survival.

Jim Wroda, the auctioneer of Karen's estate, and I have agreed that all of these Pulled Husk Corn Vases can be considered whimsies because they have all been manipulated and changed from their original moulded shape.

Shown below are the same vases in a photo Karen Engel sent me before she passed away but this photo includes a regular Corn Vase in green, also by Northwood, to show you the difference in size, weight and pattern.

Shown below are two more vases, one green and the other purple, owned by my friend Mavis Loescher that she and her late husband George purchased many years ago. Her green version is one of only two known in this color. Hers is perfect and has the same roping along the base and stem as Karen's does. Her purple one is also one more different shape than all the other ones we have talked about today. You will notice it bulges out and then it pinches back in and then it goes straight up. This vase also is the second one known to have multiple colors like mine. You will notice the husk on the left was twisted to the right and the one on the righ was twisted to the left. It gives it a unique look than mine and all the others. Photo courtesy Dick & Sherry Betker.

These are heavy vases. Mine stands 7 inches tall. The top opening is 2 1/2 inch wide. The foot it stands on is 3 3/4" wide and has no pattern on it at all. It has the "Underscored N in a Circle" Northwood mark on the inside of the bottom. It has six husks all round. Every other one stands out from the vase and the other alternating three lay flat and are a part of the pattern on the cob its self.

There is a mould line running down each of the edges of the three outstanding free form husks which are extremely well detailed on both sides. There are three mould lines on the base that run up through the ring around the stem, then up the outside edges of the three husks and then there is no trace of the mould lines which theoretically continue up the cob to the top of the rim. I say theoretically because they surely must run up between the rows of kernels which allows the matching up of the 3-part mould with such precision that the mould seams are all but invisible...undetectable, even on the very rim its self. All three husks have been twisted to the left and then their sides and pointed tips were melded against the cob giving a ruffled effect.

Don Hamlet also has one that has a heat crack but it displays perfectly and is undetectable. He and his wife Becky allowed me to photograph it  a while ago when I visited their home. After I handled and spent a while photographing it I quickly fell in love with its masculine features and thought I would have one some day. You can see why I fell for its beautiful multi-hued golden colors.

 The Hamlet's vase can be seen here on Showcase.

The last two photos show the images Gary sent me after he first bought it. The third to the last photo is my Mother holding it for me to take its first photo after I cleaned it thoroughly. It shines so bright that the gold gleams and glints like 18K gold. So many colors came out that I did not see before, especially purples, blues, yellows, pinks and greens.

I would like to thank my friend, Gary Lickver, the Road Warrior, for choosing me to be the special recipient of this beautiful vase that was his find of a lifetime. Lucky for him is also lucky for me too! 

The Christina Katsikas Collection

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