Ripple Vases

By Don Chamberlain

A number of years ago, a fellow collector from our area told us he was collecting Ripple vases in every base size and height. He wanted to start with the smallest height on each end and have them get larger until the tallest one was in the middle. At that time Ripple vases were not particularly popular and we thought that this made quite a different collection. Both he and his wife have long since passed away. We have never been able to find out what happened to these vases.

Ripple vases, as with other Imperial patterns, can be quite pretty when Imperial “got it right!” Though they may not be as desirable as many other vase patterns, they were certainly made in many sizes and colors.

According to Dave Doty in his excellent online guide, there are five base sizes generally ranging from five inches to eighteen inches in height. The three-inch base size is most often seen but there is little difference in price except for the two and one-half inch mini and the four and three-quarter inch funeral vase. There are at least seventeen colors available with some rarely found. These rarities include red (one known), blue, white, vaseline, and yellow. The funeral vase in teal is re-ported to be the hardest to find. The standard size appears to have the largest variety of color.

Nigel Gamble provided this photo to Joan Doty which includes from left, violet blue, red, purple with enameled flowers, aqua, sapphire, and amber. Joan doesn’t know where these vases now reside.

Here is Nigel Gamble’s enameled vase.

This shows the five base sizes in marigold, amber, purple, amethyst, and the purple funeral vase, on the top.  The five base sizes, shown in the photo on the bottom, range from 2 1/2 inches to 4 3/4 inches.

The massive funeral vases above, from the Clark collection, in the back are purple, marigold, and aqua, and marigold with a super wide mouth, and green in front.

Dean and Diane Fry report that the two and one-half inch has a sixteen-point star in the base. The two and seven-eighth inch, three and three-eighths inch, and the three and seven-eighth inch base contain twenty-point stars, and the four and three-quarter inch base has a twenty-four-point star.

Shown above is one of the shorter mini vases with a tall funeral vase.

The photo on the left shows the blue base of the Ripple vase, while the photo at the right shows the blue vase with an olive vase.

Joan Doty’s clambroth and pastel smoke vases on the left. The two mini vases, right, are sometimes called clambroth, but to my eyes they are white.

Joan Doty shares her amber and purple vases that display no ruffles. They are round at the top. The photo to the right shows two vases with the 3 3/4” base – one in smoke and the other in amber. The smoke vase in this size is one of the hardest to find according to Kevin and April Clark.

 The vase to the left has a yellow base glass. It does not glow. Joan Doty’s photo above shows the yellow base color.

Back in the day when Ripple vases were made, they came from the mold and a snap was applied to the base and a finisher swung the vases. The amount of swinging determined the height. Sometimes the vases were swung so one or more spouts would form in the ruffles at the top. All three of these vases, above have spouts. There is even a small string of glass on the one top right. The Clarks look for these spout vases to collect.

Quite a collection of Ripple vases can be acquired without breaking the bank. Do you have some other Ripple vase you would like to share? Please do. Email or send photos and descriptions to dbcham@iowatelecom.net or 124 E. Honey Creek Dr., Manchester, IA 52057. We’ll share yours in The Carnival Pump.

Thanks to Joan Doty and Kevin and April Clark for their help with this article.

This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the March 2018 issue and is reprinted with permission.