Northwood Tornado Wisteria Stretch Glass Flared Whimsey Vase ~ Only One Reported

Northwood Wisteria Tornado Vase ~ A Flared Stretch Glass Whimsey ~ purchased by Christina Katsikas from the American Carnival Glass Association Convention Auction on June 17, 2017. It was hosted by Jim Wroda Auction Service in their Greenville, Ohio location. This historic auction featured the glass of Karen & Doug Engel, George Thomas & Dale Matheny, and Don & Connie Moore, all of whom have owned this important vase. It was Lot No. 351 in the elegant catalog and described as "Only one known. Another top Northwood whimsey rarity." It is signed with the Northwood N.

Tom Mordini offered his memories of the origins of its travels going back to 1987. He writes, "Hi Christina, I attended the Wroda auction featuring the carnival glass collection of Doug & Karen Engel last weekend in Greenville, Ohio. I am aware that you bought the wisteria Tornado vase whimsey from the Engel collection. Here is a little background regarding the Tornado vase.

Sharon and I were traveling from Cleveland (from a Burns auction) in July of 1987 and were made aware that there was a big flea market in Centerville, Michigan. We were close to Centerville so we decided to run thru the flea market. We were "rookies" at collecting carnival glass in 1987 (we had only been collecting for about six years). I had been studying about carnival glass for about six years because i wanted to know just about everything that there was to know about the glass.

We were only at the flea market for about one hour when we came across a booth that had a lot of carnival glass. We did not know who's booth it was but he said his name was Dick Fenton. He said he was not part of the Fenton Glass family. We talked for a while about carnival glass and he said that he had a very rare piece of Northwood carnival glass that was not on display on his table. He opened a box and showed us the wisteria Tornado vase.

He explained that it was a whimsey and was probably the only one ever made. He quoted a price of $2500.00 which was way over what we could pay for a single item of carnival glass. I held the vase for quite a while and wanted to buy it but decided it was too much money. At least I knew that it was a great item. After walking around the flea market for about thirty minutes, we returned to his booth and bought the vase, knowing we would have to sell it to recover our money.

When held to the sunlight the vase looked spectacular, especially with the stretch effect and pastel wisteria color.

About two months later Tom Burns called us and said he was in the Freeport, Illinois area and wanted to stop by to visit. When he arrived he spotted the vase in our cabinet and asked to look at it. He held it in his hands for about five minutes and finally asked if it was for sale. We said yes and he bought it for what we thought was a nice profit.

Tom said that it was without doubt the rarest Tornado vase he had ever seen. Later on he sold the vase to Don Moore while visiting with Don in California. Don told Tom that he agreed that it was the rarest Tornado vase that he had ever seen and classified it as a whimsey. Don Moore died in 1993 and shortly after he died Connie Moore sold the vase to George Thomas, also from California.

George owned the vase until his death several years ago. George and Dale Matheny shared their collection of carnival glass so Dale became the sole owner of the vase. Upon Dale's death a few years ago, the vase was acquired by Karen & Doug Engel where it has resided until the Engel auction last week in Ohio.

Now you are the owner of this great vase. Someday the vase will move on to a new collector and hopefully they will appreciate the rarity and importance of having it in their collection. I know you will regard this vase as one of the most outstanding carnival glass items in your collection. Congratulations! Tom Mordini"

Christina here...Now, before Tom Burns bought this vase from Tom Mordini, Tom Mordini first sold it to the late George Loescher who also owned the beautiful only known Celeste blue Tornado whimsey vase (pictured last in this article). His wife, Mavis, offered to tell the circumstances in her own words, which Tom Mordini thought was more appropriate due to the delicate nature of the subject. Mavis thought her husband's role was an important part of this vase's history and was anxious to tell her story. Her personal comments are as follows:

"Hi Chris, I have been searching all afternoon for the information on the Tornadoes. Can't find where he recorded any facts or figures so to the best of my recollection here goes....I am pretty sure we got the Celeste vase from the Mary Elizabeth Collier auction held in St. Louis. You could consult John Woody....he might recall details.

Now, if my memory serves me correctly, Tom Mordini sold the Wisteria Tornado to us for $5,000. When we got it home and compared it to our Celeste blue one, George noticed the base on the Wisteria one was ground and the Celeste one had a collar. To us, $5,000 was a ton of money and George wasn't comfortable with the base difference so Tom Mordini graciously took it back and refunded our money. In hindsight, I think that was our mistake. It was most likely done when it was made. At any rate, it is a beautiful piece, one you should be proud to own. Mavis"

Christina here...The beautiful Northwood Celeste Blue tri-corner top whimsey vase above was in the same auction as the Wisteria one. They had been together for a long time and sold one after the other. I tried with all my might to keep them together but Don & Becky Hamlet, collectors here on Showcase, wanted it more than I would go so they are the proud new owners of this "celestial" vase. Congratulations to them and I look forward to writing a full story on that vase soon!

But wait! There's more! Remember Tom Mordini wrote that he purchased the vase from Dick Fenton, that flea market in 1987? Well, Dick Fenton has his story to tell that gets us closer to the secret life of this vase.

Dick Fenton writes, "The Wisteria Tornado Vase #351 (in the Engel sale catalog) I bought for $30.00 at a public auction in Boardman, Ohio in 1987. That is the same year that the Presznick auctions were held in Lodi, Ohio. Later on in the year I sold the vase to Tom Mordini at the Centerville, Michigan show. Boardman, Ohio isn't too far from Indiana, Pennsylvania. Note: The auction was held about 4 1/2 miles from Poland, Ohio. where the two famous [father and son] Carnival Glass auctioneers, Bill & Billy Richards, lived at the time.---Dick"

From Christina: Thank you Tom Mordini, Mavis Loescher and Dick Fenton for the wonderful provenance. Also, a special thank you to Dick & Sherry Betker for being at the auction to purchase this for me. At the time of the auction I was in the throws of my very busy 4th of July season at Hooksett Fireworks in Hooksett, New Hampshire. This historical auction was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I regretfully had to miss. Fortunately, with friends like the Betkers, I got a piece of the pie! With my sincerest appreciation to all who made this experience possible, I say thank you!

But wait! There's more! And now a message from the auctioneer who just sold it to me, Jim Wroda.

Jim Wroda writes, "So… Many years ago while at Dale Matheny and George Thomas's condo in San Francisco, this Wisteria Stretch Tornado vase came up and George and I had conversation. George asked me what I thought and I told him.  After a few days, George called me back and was fairly convinced that, what I thought held water. SO here is the conspiracy theory...Think about this…

IF someone thought this vase was worthy of having a so called “ground” base, they must have thought it was or had value. So why would you have this done and then put in a backwoods auction in nowhere land Ohio?

IF The owner really thought it was a $30.00 vase, no way do they spend money on “fixing” a chip when epoxy was the in thing then. So how does a vase like this show up in a “backwoods” auction not advertised, sitting on a table of “other stuff”? Because they didn’t know. SO, that leads me to my theory, of which George thought was a valid point, is that this was all done at the factory when made because THEY knew it had value. This vase, in my opinion, was a Stretch Glass Experiment with a Iconic Northwood mold in a Stretch Glass Color, Wisteria. During the making, maybe the base had a “pulled chip”, out of round, wobbly, or some sort of base issue. The vase was taken to the “higher ups” and they gave a thumbs down for whatever reason, cost - appeal - or whatever.  As we know there is not much Wisteria, so maybe it was simply cost for the right “mix” to acquire Wisteria color.

The piece is then given to the “blower”, they took it to the shop and polished the base to sit level and the piece became a famous “lunch box piece”. We all know that Northwood, Fenton, Dugan, Millersburg all had capability to polish bases. We have seen on other pieces that were released to the public. Someone with great experience had to polish it, when or if it was done. Just look, no flakes, perfect polish, sits level.... someone HAD to be experienced to do this. Once again, if you thought enough of the vase to just throw it into a backwoods auction, you spend zero dollars removing an issue on the base whatever it was - IF ANYTHING.

So, I STILL think this is a “lunch box piece” that now is a Very Famous and Very Important piece of Northwood Glass, not to mention the beauty...it is incredible! And you are now the VERY PROUD person to own it! Congratulations!"

From Christina: "Thank you Jim for that wonderful recollection and conversation of long ago. I fully agree with your theory and would like to add that the vase was indeed so perfectly polished that it even has a slight beveled edge to it. The most important thing for me is that I can see minute wear and scratch marks OVER the original smooth polished base which means it was polished before it became a utilitarian piece in someone's home. Thank you so much for that precious, private conversation with George. This bit of history belongs here with the vase. I must add that you are one auctioneer who shows customer appreciation in many ways. You thought of me and actually took the time in your busy schedule to write such a detailed letter because you know it matters. For me, provenance is sacred in Carnival Glass and I think you understand how fascinating that can be. You really did right by this vase Jim! I have been watching you go above and beyond for your customers and so I know, for you, it is about the people and the glass first. Thank you for all you do for Carnival Glass!"

The Christina Katsikas Collection

The first four photos courtesy Jim Wroda Auctions--Nice job!

The rest by Christina Katsikas