Happy Tuesday everyone. Cal here with some comments on stretch glass. We had our “Stretch-Out” call last week and we talked about optics in stretch glass. As you know, relatively little stretch glass has a pressed pattern in the glass, but that doesn’t mean most of stretch glass is “plain.” Quite a bit of stretch glass has optic “designs” in the glass. What do we mean, by optics? We are talking about a design in the glass which is actually on the inside of the glass but is intended to be seen by looking through the glass. We examined 6 groups of Optic Patterns: Curtain Optic, Diamond Optic, Rib Optic, Optic Panels, Optic Rays, and Optic Swirl. Some of these designs or patterns are quite familiar to both carnival and stretch glass collectors, but others are not. Let’s take a look at a which companies made optic patterns.
Curtain optic was only made by Fenton. It is beautiful and highly desirable and has been discussed previously in this discussion, so I’m going to move on to the next category.
Diamond optic was made by Fenton and Northwood.
Fenton made two different Diamond optics, one is similar to the Northwood design and the other is much different – smaller and sharper to the touch. This smaller Diamond Optic is primarily found in candy jars, vases & perfumes and these items are highly sought after by collectors.
As you can see from the Russet vase, the diamond optics can be quite pronounced and give the vase a great look.
Rib optic was also made by Fenton and Northwood.
Again, Fenton made two different Rib Optics, one is similar to their Curtain Optic and the other is similar to Northwood’s Rib Optic.
This Rib Optic vase by Northwood is a rare and desirable example of stretch glass.
I don’t want to overwhelm everyone with all these optics, so I am going to save the Optic Panels, Optic Rays and Optic Swirl for my next contribution. They show up in stretch glass made by several companies warrant their own discussion. More on that in 3 weeks.
If you are interested in learning about stretch glass made by the Vineland Flint Glass Company of Vineland, NJ, please plan on joining us for the February 2, 2017 Stretch Out call which will be devoted to a discussion of this company’s stretch glass. The call in number is 415 464-6800 and the conf is 04211974#. We welcome all who are interested in talking and learning about stretch glass to join us for these discussions.