The Art of Fenton

By Kathleen S. Lavery

Romantic Homes Magazine

August 2003

When they started their family business in Ohio in 1905, brothers Frank L. and John W. Fenton never dreamed their modest glass cutting and decorating business would flourish for nearly 100 years, producing some of the most colorful, versatile, decorative and collectible glass available today. Transparent and lightly tinted crystal, densely colored opalescent glass and iridized Carnival glass radiating a satiny glow gave birth to vases, urns, bowls, pitchers, plates and dozens of other decorative forms.

The first Fenton glassware was in fact not Fenton glass at all, but blanks purchased from other glass companies and decorated by Fenton. "As the firm prospered it became evident to the Fentons that their suppliers either could not or would not meet their increasing demands for more glassware," according to Margaret and Kenn Whitmyer, authors of two Fenton Art Glass Identification and Value Guide books. The brothers were left with little choice but to start their own plant, and in 1907 the Fenton Art Glass Company established in Williamstown, West Virginia began production.

Clear glass starts with a mixture of sand, soda, ash and lime. "The many elaborate and beautiful colors which appear in art glass are obtained by mixing with the basic elements - various combinations of metallic salts," according to Fenton Glass, The First Twenty-Five Years by William Heacock. Once these ingredients are mixed, they are shoveled into pots or tanks and melted.

Depending on the shape of the piece being made, it can take up to 15 skilled workers to make just one piece of Fenton glass. Gatherers, pressers, finishers, handlers, ringers, blockers and blowers together with carrying-in, warming-in and carrying-over boys join forces to create each delicate glass confection.

Early catalogs featured beautiful crystal and colored pitcher and tumbler sets hand decorated with enameled floral decorations. Patterns such as Beaded Stars, Northern Star, Honeycomb and Clover, and Waterlily and Cattails decorated pieces of another popular offering, pressed-pattern glassware. "Waterlily and Cattails was a very popular pattern and was made for many years in various colors, including Carnival and opalescent," note the Whitmyers.

Nicknamed Carnival because it was handed out at local carnivals, shimmering pressed-glass figures dressed in colorful iridescent glazes appeared in homes everywhere. "Starting in 1907, the Fenton Art Glass Company became the first company to produce this type of glass," according to the Whitmyers. Carnival, both plain and iridized, became a huge seller for Fenton, as well as other companies. "This mass-produced iridescent glassware was affordable to the average American and over 150 patterns and numerous colors were made by Fenton," they add.

Ironically, Fenton's Off Hand Art Glass line, started in the late 1920s to compete with Tiffany glass, failed after only one year due to the high production costs. Made in colors such as Karnak red, Oriental ivory, antique green and turquoise blue, magnificent vases, urns and candlesticks wear pattern designs of Hanging Hearts, Hanging Vine and Pulled Feather along with Mosaic Inlay. Extremely rare because of the short production period, these beautifully patterned and handsomely executed high-class Fenton art forms are eagerly sought after by collectors.

"Fenton had hired a group of professional European glass workers who had done free-hand glass work for Imperial and later Durand," notes Illinois collector Neil Unger. President of the 1920s, '30s and '40s Depression Glass Society, Unger and his wife, Eddy, are especially proud of the early Off Hand pieces in their diverse Fenton collection. "There was no mold used; every piece was mouth blown and manipulated freehand," says Neil, who began their Fenton collection almost 30 years ago.

Avid collectors in other genres since they married 44 years ago, Neil began bringing home Fenton one piece at a time. "Every time I would ask, 'Are you collecting Fenton now?' The answer was no," remembers Eddy. "It took my husband about six months and many pieces before he admitted it was becoming a collection." The Ungers now have hundreds of pieces, displayed on shelves and in display cases all over their home, the Off Hand pieces being the jewels of the collection.

Patterns are infused into Off Hand pieces by adding bits of colored glass to a reheated form and working them into the desired design. A similar process produced a mosaic pattern. "The company would take the black glass form and roll it into ground pieces of colored glass called frit, and then reheat it," says Eddy. "The frit melts in a completely random design, so no two pieces are alike."

Adding to its uniqueness, glass threading also can be found on some mosaic pieces. "They ran threads of glass around the entire object, very thin pieces that would adhere and form a dimensional pattern," says Neil.

Stretched glass, another hugely successful seller for Fenton, was aggressively marketed in the early 1920s as the interest in Carnival glass declined. "They would take the hot vase from the mold and put it onto a toll called a punty with a snap ring, which holds the vase on the bottom," explains Wisconsin collector Kay Kenworthy. "The glass worker swings it back and forth like a pendulum and the centrifugal force expands or stretches the vase."

Kenworthy began her thousand-piece collection almost 35 years ago. Her mother was born and raised in Newport, Ohio, across the river from the Fenton Art Glass factory. After her parents married and moved to Wisconsin, they would make trips back to Ohio to visit relatives. "They would come back to Wisconsin with carloads of Fenton glass for themselves and the neighbors," remembers Kenworthy.

Old and new Fenton glass share honors in Kenworthy's collection. "When I started I wanted a pattern that had a history but was still being made," Kenworthy says. "The one pattern I found was their Open Edge Basket Weave pattern, so I started looking for pieces that were currently in the line and pieces from way back when, and now I have more than 250 pieces of that pattern."

Introduced by his wife to the joys of Fenton, Kenworthy's husband, Forest, also is a dedicated collector. "Every time we would go antique shopping he would buy all these bonbons or nappies (little dishes for candy)," says Kenworthy. "Then he discovered the Emerald Green Snowcrest pattern and fell in love with it."

Every year during the full week of August, the Fenton Art Glass Collectors Association holds its convention in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Events during the weeklong convention include a private guided tour of the Fenton factory, seminars, an auction of unusual glass created especially for the association and special glass sales.

Blessed with continuous production over its 98-year history, Fenton's combination of colors, patterns, styles and form number in the thousands. Most of the patterns were made for short periods of time. "If someone is interested in collecting at a very serious level, the best thing they can do is join the Fenton Association and purchase and study all the books that have been written on Fenton glass over the years," recommends Kenworthy.

Education is especially important because, like so many of the older glass patterns, some Fenton patterns have been reproduced, causing confusion among untrained collectors. Current patterns are available in stores all over the country, and catalogs are available from Fenton. Older pieces can be found in antique shops, flea markets and on eBay, ranging in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars for rare finds.

Frank and John Fenton laid the cornerstone for this family-run business that has spanned generations, prospering when times were good, tenaciously surviving during war times and economic downturns. "We have a saying that there is more to collecting glass than the glass - there is the history behind it," says Neil. "It's also the people you meet along the way," adds Eddy. The Fenton family would surely agree.

[Illustration]

PHOTO The Curtain Optic pattern in topaz opalescent (c. 1927) is a cross collectible coveted by both Carnival and Stretch Glass collectors. PHOTO (Left) The peach Blow vase features a sand-carved pattern by designer David Rawson. The experimental yellow vase is by designer Robert Barber. PHOTO (Below) The peach Blow pitcher was made by Fenton Art Glass for L.G. Wright, a distribution company, based on its own design. Fenton collectors also collect L.G. Wright. Also pictured are two flower frog Nymph figures (September Morn); the lavender Pulled Feather pattern bottle is a copy of an old barber bottle. PHOTO An array of Fenton forms include a butterfly-embossed nappy (top center); a plum-colored opalescent slipper (cat design on front); and a night set (or tumble-up) in the Spanish lace pattern, which is a new piece made from an old mold.