What is Fenton Carnival Glass?
Click here to find over 850 Fenton Carnival Glass items to view or buy.
The Fenton Art Glass company was started in 1905 by brothers Frank and John Fenton, and soon after started producing Fenton carnival glass. It is widely believed to be first mentioned by the name “Iridill glass” in a trade magazine dating from October 1907.
Now, over 100 years later Fenton carnival glass is renowned by avid collectors the world over. But what is it, and how did it get its name?
The original Iridill glass was a cheaply-priced glass made to imitate a Tiffany style. It had a metallic sheen over a colored, pressed pattern. It was originally sold in dime stores, but the sales soon decreased, and the glass was sold en masse to traveling carnivals in order to be used as prizes.
The moniker soon stuck, but the quality increased exponentially over the years, and today the quality of Fenton carnival glass is unrivaled.
Most Fenton carnival glass is hand-pressed and hand-finished, marking it out as higher quality and precision than most other glass manufacturers.
The name “Carnival glass” was actually coined by Rose Presznick and Marion Hartung in the 50s. Both women were avid collectors, and were dismayed that it did not have a common name which made identification difficult.
Presznick approached Frank Fenton to produce some new pieces for her museum. Frank duly obliged, and the pieces became incredibly popular. The quality was much increased, and suddenly Fenton’s carnival glass future looked as bright as the glass.
Prior to that, Fenton carnival glass was made in a variety of different colors and sold cheaply, however the most valuable color was always red. This was probably due to the vast quantities of imported glass that came from Europe at the time, much of it from Venice. The Venetians actually used gold to produce the red coloration, and this boosted its popularity.
The main characteristic of Fenton carnival glass is its iridescence and decorative coloration. The iridescence comes from the manufacturing process where the glass is tinted with metallic salts whilst hot, and then re-fired.
Fenton carnival glass dating from the early part of the 20th century is among the most sought after and highly valuable glass in the world. To this day, the red Fenton carnival glass from this era remains highly valuable, and incredibly prized by collectors.
Although alter pieces can be purchased relatively reasonably, there is a certain irony in the fact that originally there was little demand for Fenton carnival glass – it was produced and sold so cheaply that it was barely given away. Today, top end vintage pieces sell for many thousands of dollars.
Fenton carnival glass is much sought after, and some of the pieces on display today are stunningly beautiful. As any collector will tell you, Fenton is still the leading manufacturer of carnival glass, and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Click here to find over 850 Fenton Carnival Glass items to view or buy.
