One of the most popular patterns among collectors of Depression glass for its timeless and classis beauty, the Sharon pattern, also known as Rose of Sharon or Cabbage Rose, was produced by the Federal Glass Company from 1935 until 1939.

You can see much resemblance between Sharon and Federal’s Mayfair and Rosemary patterns for good reason; Mayfair was also the name of a Hocking pattern and so, due to copyright issues and after redesigning the pattern twice, Federal renamed the line Rosemary in 1934. But the Rosemary line sold poorly and was followed soon after with Federal’s introduction of another open rose motif, the Sharon pattern, in 1935.

Of the three lines, Sharon, with its smooth edges and ornate rose garland, proved by far to be the most popular, winning the War of The Roses at the Federal Glass Company and still winning hearts with collectors today as one of the most sought after Depression glass patterns!

Colors produced in the Sharon pattern included Rose Glow (pink), the most desirable in the pattern by collectors today, Springtime Green, which is the hardest to find today, and amber, called “Golden Glow” in the original Federal catalogs, and a few pieces in Crystal (clear).

Federal’s Sharon floral pattern was made using the Chip Mould process. Among the 32 pieces made in the Sharon pattern, some of the more difficult pieces to find include the thick tumbler, flat soup, cream soup, and pitchers. The jam dish in pink is rare, while the uncut footed tumbler made into a lamp is nearly impossible to find today.

Pieces available in crystal include the cake plate, a footed tumbler, and 7 and 1/2 inch plate. Some of the Sharon cake plates are indented for a metal lid, while others are flat, and may be found with flowers painted on the underside.

Though quite popular, pieces in the Sharon pattern are still reasonably priced and, with a little patience, you can still put together a full service, especially in amber or pink, although pink pieces typically run about twice the cost of amber.

If you want green pieces, you’ll need to be very patient as there aren’t many pieces available, although it is less popular with collectors than pink. Flat soup bowls, the jam dish, pitchers and tumblers, will require some hunting but you should be able to track them down.

The pitcher comes with and without an ice lip and remarkably, it’s the plain variety that’s slightly harder to find. Tumblers were made in 9-oz and 12-oz size, and come thick and thin. The thin ones look mold blown while the thick variety looks pressed. The thick ones are harder to find; of course, if you’re willing to mix thick and thin, you’ll complete your set faster.

The 15 oz footed tumbler was added to the line in 1937, making it the hardest to find of the three sizes made. Finding a cheese dish will test your patience, and if you collect pink Sharon, be prepared to spend in the $1500 range for one.

Many reproductions of Sharon were made in the 1970s, so be sure pieces you buy are originals, unless you are intentionally out to collect the replacements, in which case be sure you pay accordingly.

Some tips on identifying Sharon reproductions pieces versus originals:

• There are six Sharon pieces which have been reproduced; the salt and pepper shakers, the sugar and creamer, covered candy dish, butter dish, and the cheese dish, which is hard to find original.
• If you find any of these pieces in a color other than amber, green or pink, you will know it’s a reproduction immediately. Unfortunately, the three original colors were also reproduced, so you have other criteria to check; the reproduction amber is too dark and green and pink reproduction pieces are too light, making them fairly easy to identify as replacements.
• The quality of the reproduction glass is also inferior, with bubbles and poor mold work.
• On fake shakers the pattern is crudely done; the roses look more like concentric circles than open blossoms, and the rosebud that tops the design looks like a pinwheel instead of a bud with three leaves.
• The pattern is equally bad on the candy dish and sugar & creamer, with the mold line on the creamer running to the side of the spout rather than down the center.
• The sugar bowl lid is the easiest way to tell real from fake: the old lids have a mold seam running around the edge of the knob while the new lids have a smooth knob. If the sugar bowl has no lid, look inside where the handle attaches to the bowl: old handles make a teardrop shape where they meet the bowl while the attachment in new ones is a circle.
• The candy dish is so crudely done that the bubbles and poor mold design should give it away immediately.
  The butter dish and cheese dish give collectors the most concern, but they are very easy to expose. As both use the same top, check it first.
• Original butter and cheese lids have such a squat knob that your fingers cannot grasp it securely. When you pick up an old lid by the knob, you can barely get the tips of your fingers into the space between the knob and the flat surface of the top, explaining the shortage of original tops remaining today.
• The counterfeiters fixed this problem; on new lids the knob is stretched up so you can wrap your fingers safely around it. If you can grasp it comfortably between your index and middle finger, put it down and walk away. On both of these bases, the glass is too thick and of poor quality.
• Fake butter bottoms have a very sharp inner rim to hold the top in place – on the original, this lip is less pronounced so the top slips off more easily.
• On a fake cheese dish, the bottom is a bowl with a rim instead of a flat plate.