Sowerby UK Pineapple Bows Aqua Compote
Description
This has to be one of our best finds ever. Sowerby's Pineapple, often referred to as Pineapple & Bows, was purchased at an antique and collectors fair in Kettering UK during the late 1990s. We were on our way home from a holiday and just happened to pop into the fair late afternoon. Because we were late, we decided to split up and do a quick scour of the rows.
When we met up, I hadn't seen any Carnival glass, whereas my husband, Keith, had spotted a piece he didn't recognize. The piece was in the midst of a ceramics stall and only a keen eye would have spotted it. We asked the stallholder to put it to one side while we went off to make a call. After describing it, the dealer we spoke to told us it was a reproduction. It looked as if it had come straight from the factory but was so beautiful we decided to buy it anyway.
A little while later the dealer vistied us and I went to get the piece to show him. As I walked across the rooom I could see him visibly shaking. In about twenty years of collecting, he had never come across the shaope or the color of the piece and couldn't believe his eyes.
It was indeed Sowerby's Pineapple in a beautiful aqua/blue colour, heavily laden with iridescence, both inside and out, showing amethyst, pinks, gold and turquoise. It has the Sowerby Peacock trademark in the base. The interior has a ribbed pattern. To our knowledge, this is the first and only reported piece in this cupped in stemmed shape and with this colour.
It measures 5.25" tall, top opening of 4.5", bowl depth 2.5", and a base diameter of 3.5".
