A Holiday Surprise!

By Rick and Debbie Graham

Collecting carnival glass is good therapy! With this year being almost devoid of in-person auctions and conventions due to the Corona virus, things are far from normal. What else can lift your spirits like an exciting find? That’s exactly what happened to Debbie and me July 3rd. The 4th fell on Saturday, so Debbie was off work on Friday for the holiday.

Our normal discussion when she is off is, “What do you want to do today?” We are spur-of-the- moment types quite often. Since antique malls and shops are open for the most places now, we have been visiting some of our favorites for the first time in a while. I picked the spot this time and away we went.

We stopped at an antique mall and enjoyed the experience but didn’t find anything we needed. Next we made our way to a nice one owner antique shop. The open sign was in the window so we headed for the door. It was locked, then we saw the sign to “Ring the doorbell. Only 9 people in the shop at a time”. We rang the bell and heard the click; we were in. We were greeted by the shop owner and talked with him as we began exploring. This shop has a diverse selection of actual antiques-no garage sale items in this place. I was almost all the way around the shop when I heard the shop owner say, “It has chips on the base.” Not exciting news until I looked and saw what Debbie was holding and looking at – an amethyst Dugan Paneled Tree Trunk vase! Did you ever get that weak in the knees feeling? I have wanted one of these vases for a long time but never expected to own one.

Debbie handed me the vase and I could see that the iridescence was very nice. Yes it had flakes on the base, but do we leave a vase like this behind? The vase was spattered with what looked like old paint, but I felt like it would really clean up with some work. It was priced very reasonably and while I was inspecting it, we were offered almost a 50% discount. We have bought only a few pieces of carnival glass knowing there was damage, so Debbie’s eye- brows raised a little when I said we would take the vase.

I have always liked rustic looking vases and we have quite a few Northwood Tree Trunk vases and a few Fenton Rustic vases acquired over the years. I first saw a Dugan Paneled Tree Trunk vase when Dave Doty released the Carnival Glass 1994 Appointment Calendar. The two calendars with photos by Dave and notes by Dave and Joan are superb and we still enjoy ours. The Paneled Tree Trunk vases were pictured on page 10. The information on page 125 states that it was owned by Smokey Cloud, it was amethyst, made by Dugan, 7 1/2” tall with a 4 7/8” base. It also noted that no other examples had been found at that time.

Fast forward to 2020 and the Pricing Guide on the Hooked On Carnival website (helpful and handy), lists 6 of these vases have sold at auction from 2002 to 2020. Two of those listed have been auctioned twice, so that brings it down to 4 with the possibility of other duplicate auction sales. Anyway, there are not a lot of Paneled Tree Trunk vases known.

Immediately on returning home I attempted to remove the “paint” with a wooden toothpick. The paint turned out being just years of old fashioned dirt! A sink full of soapy water and lots of elbow grease later, the vase transformed into a thing of beauty.

We had seen the Paneled Tree Trunk vase in Karen Engel’s auction and I was blown away. All of the other vases I had seen photos of were squatty compared to Karen’s which was listed at 12” tall. We quickly learned that we couldn’t compete in the quest for ownership. But that didn’t keep me from dreaming about finding one out while treasure hunting one day!

Our Paneled Tree Trunk vase is 14” tall with a 4 7/8” base, and a 6” mouth. So far that is taller than the others we have information about. There are eight panels of hobs and the vase comes from a 4 part mold.

All Paneled Tree Trunk vases sold at auction have been amethyst, but there are reports of marigold, green and peach opal. If you have one of these vases in another color, why not share a photo with the carnival glass world-even anonymously?

Keep your eyes open while dreaming and you might just find a treasure!

Here is the Paneled Tree Trunk shown with two Rustic funeral vases and three 9 inch plates to show a size comparison.

Photos courtesy of Rick and Debbie Graham.

This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the September 2020 issue and is reprinted with permission.