Jeanette Glass Iris and Herringbone

My own personal collection of depression glass began as an accident.

I hadn’t been married very long and I used a platter that held deviled eggs for an evening meal. It was knocked from the table and broken( amid scrambled deviled eggs may I add)  I went in search of one that looked like it and found a green one that was close to what I had broken.

Unknown to me, it was depression glass, someone recognized it as such and told me what I had.. The patterns, the colors and the pieces were amazing to me and started me studying intently to see what else was out there. My husband, always one to encourage my forays into something new, purchased a book for me that gave me some insight into the many pieces that were out there, including some others, china teacups.

Literally thousands of items and trips to the flea market later, I have to wonder if he regrets that simple little gift. I’d say the answer is probably a resounding yes.

One of the things I’ve seen and become interested in  that was made by Jeannette, is a depression glass, that might interest some of you too.

Iris and Herringbone: Made by the Jeannette Glass Company, it was, in the beginning, crystal, for about four years between 1928 and 1932, but of course, there are exceptions and there were also a few pink and greens made in this time span as well. Likewise, there were some crystal pieces made in the forties, along with special treatments that included satin and flowers painted on, and some other coloration. You’re going to see these most commonly on the fruit bowls, nut bowls, the candlesticks and the sherbert dishes that are that luscious red with the gold decoration. Jeannette focused largely on giftware type glass in this time span, as opposed to their tableware, which is one reason why you’re going to find it difficult to gather in the plates bowls and tumblers from this time span.

Some Iris pieces will be hard to deal with for the novice, being a little confusing from the beginning. The goblets came in two different sizes, 4.5 and 5.5 inches, and each one has two different bowl sizes as well. The footed tumblers also came in two different sizes, with only half an inch difference in them, making it hard to really envision if you don’t have something to compare one of them to.

Ruffled Bowls. There were made in five inch, nine and one half inch and eleven and one half inches. There is a cereal bowl thats also five inches but it has a straight edge rather than ruffled. THe price difference between the two is not neglible, as the ruffled one goes for about 20 dollars as opposed to the cereal bowl, which prices out at about 165-175.. so thats a definitely expensive mistake.

There are nut bowls and fruit bowls, which contain a hole in the middle and a chrome base which may have a satin type finish on them, and a lampshade a well.

In about 1950 Jeannette started making iridescent Iris and Herringbone pieces.Most of them were the same shape as what was their original crystal, however not all of the pieces were made, and some were redone, so not all will be the same. There are minor differences between the two, which doesn’t mean its a reproduction.

The goblet that had measured 4.5 was changed to four inches flat, while the candy jar was produced without a lid to it.

In my home area of Pennsylvania, Iris is a common thing to find, even today but in Nebraska, where I currently live, its just not the case. What you can expect to pay is going to change subject to how available something is to you.

Be Sociable, Share!

•