The search for the unusual piece of carnival glass by Dave Noyes
Blackberry Spray carnival glass hats made by the Fenton Glass Company in the early 1900’s are quite readily available out there in a variety of colors and shapes. There is also a “variant” in this pattern, so named because those pieces only have 2 clusters of berries and not the usual 4 clusters. For shapes, there are ruffled hats, 2 sides up hats, 4 sides up hats, JIP shape hats and hats flattened to a small plate like shape. Some pieces have smooth edges and some have a nicely shaped and designed crimped edge. Generally speaking, the ruffled examples and the 2 sides up and 4 sides pieces have the smooth edges. Not saying there are none with the crimped edge in those shapes, but none are specifically reported on the Doty or HOC websites as having a crimped edge. The JIP shapes and those flattened to a small plate have all been reported as having the crimped edge in the research I have done to date. Doty’s and HOC show no reported sales for JIP shapes with a smooth edge.
I recently acquired what appears to be the first reported or known JIP shape with a smooth edge, not crimped. I have 12 or 13 JIP shape pieces in a variety of colors and all have the crimped edge. While a lot of these JIP pieces appear on eBay, at carnival glass conventions and auctions, I cannot recall ever seeing one with a smooth edge in the JIP shape until this one came along. I sent a picture of this piece to Dave Doty, he has now added it to his website and has confirmed that he has no record of sales of a JIP piece with smooth edge. After researching the HOC database and finding no JIP shapes with smooth edge, I sent a picture to the HOC team, and they have also confirmed there are no sales records in their database for JIP pieces with a smooth edge. I have also shared a picture on three different carnival glass groups on Facebook. Several folks have come back and said they had an example, but once I asked for pictures, all turned out to be either 2 sides up or 4 sides up pieces, not JIP. I am certainly not saying I have the only one, but based on the research and sharing I have done, I think this shape with smooth edge is unusual at least, and perhaps scarce/rare. As with many carnival patterns, new discoveries in shapes and colors appear periodically, so keep looking for that rare/unusual piece by thinking about whether there is anything unusual or different about any piece you look at. I love looking for and finding those unique, different and seldom seen pieces whether a different shape, different color or different pattern. You never know what you might find if you keep looking, those unique pieces are out there and many of them do not “break the bank”!!! I got this one for less than $25.