Print       Email

March 16th, 2008 by Just Glass Oline Staff

The Cameo pattern is sometimes called Ballerina or Dancing Girl due to the little figure of a dancer displayed on all the pieces.

Cameo was produced by Hocking Glass Company of Lancaster, Ohio, from 1930 to 1934 and was available in the colors crystal, green, pink, and yellow.

Legend has it that the pattern was released in honor of Isadora Duncan, the famous modern dancer who was killed in a tragic accident when her long scarf, which was a trademark of hers, got caught in the wheel of her Bugatti roadster and choked her to death!

From 1930 to 1934, the Hocking Glass Company produced glassware that is, for all intents and purposes, truly representative of Depression era glass.

It began in Fairmont West Virginia, where the Monongahela Glass Company had its roots. The company was sold to Hocking, or more correctly, to Lancaster Glass, which had been acquired by Hocking in 1924.

Their new Springtime pattern was just what the doctor ordered to boost the flagging sales that Hocking and in fact every other business was experiencing at that time.

Hocking copied the pattern almost exactly and made for it new molds so that they could make them by machine.

In 1930, Cameo became the first etched molded dinnerware in Hockings line and today remains one of the most collected and popular pieces of Depression era glassware patterns ever made.

Much of the Cameo glass will be found in green color; however the pattern is also available in yellow, pink and a crystal with platinum trimming along its edging.

Of these pieces, pink will be the hardest to find and also the most expensive of pieces if you choose to collect them. Yellow was only made from 1932 to 1934. But it was sold in boxed sets that included the cup, saucer/sherbet plate, dinner plate, grill plate, and footed tumbler, making these pieces common.

To the collector, Cameo also offered many pieces other than the basics, such as candy jars, a vase, candle sticks and sandwich servers, which being so rare have sold for over 5,000 dollars at auction or sales.

Only one piece of cameo has been reproduced in an attempt to fool collectors. This was the salt and pepper shaker set. New shakers, according to a glass expert, have a very faint pattern on the bottom and too much glass, and so are easily recognized as reproduction pieces.

Quite popular today among collectors and enthusiasts, the Cameo set includes:

• Eight bowls
• Butter dish
• Two cake plates
• Candlesticks
• Two different candy jars
• Cocktail shaker
• Compote
• Cookie jar
• Two creamers
• Two cups styles
• Decanter in frosted and clear
• Two domino trays
• Three goblets
• Ice bowl
• Jam jar
• Three pitchers
• Ten plates
• Platter
• Relish, salt and pepper shakers
• Sandwich server
• Two saucers
• Three sherbets
• Two sugar containers
• Nine tumblers
• Two vases
• Water bottle