Varieties of Fenton Glass, an American Original

The Fenton Art Glass Company was originally founded by two brothers in Ohio in 1905. It originally served as a decorator of other glass makers' work. However, when it wasn't possible to buy the glass needed, they began making their own. In 1906, the factory moved across the river to West Virginia. It first produced glass in 1907.

Fenton art glass produced between 1905 and 1920 tends to bear the influence of Steuben and Tiffany glass, both famous art glass producers at the time. However, Jacob Rosenthal, a famous glass chemist, was responsible for developing the many colors that Fenton glass came in.

Carnival Glass

Fenton was also the first to bring carnival glass onto the market. This iridescent glass became extremely popular and is very collectible. Fenton has produced over a hundred and thirty patterns of carnival glass in its history.

Hobnail Glass, Crests & More

Fenton produced mostly practical items during the Depression and during WWII. That's because there were many shortages and luxury items weren't in demand. However, they kept coming up with new colors. During the 1950s, Hobnail milk glass became the company's most popular line. These are collectible pieces, but they aren't as valuable today as other Fenton art glass. Some lines produced by the company, called "crest" lines, are more valuable. The Ebony Crest line is especially collectible, as are very early Fenton pieces.

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These pieces are made with an opaque glass base and a clear or colored border ruffle for interest. Clear ruffles are called Silver Crest, green are Emerald Crest, and white and black are Snow and Ebony Crest pieces, respectively.

Fenton Logo After 1974

In the 1970s, the company began adding their logo to the bottoms of some pieces. This helped them be identified from older pieces. Any piece of Fenton art glass made from 1974 onward will have this logo. If a piece was made before this time, it was marked with a paper label. That means that older pieces will usually be unmarked, since the label has likely worn away.

Pieces made during the 1980s will have an 8 added under the logo, and in the 1990s, a 9 was used. Some lines have been produced for many years, resulting in newer, less valuable pieces looking much the same as antiques. That makes identifying valuable Fenton art glass tricky in some cases.

Recently, the Fenton glass company has had difficulties, and planned to stop production in 2007. However, unexpected customer response has allowed them to stay in business longer. They allow visitors to come to their museum and factory, which are still located in West Virginia.

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Tags: Art Glass, carnival glass, fenton art glass, fenton art glass company, fenton glass, glass, glass makers, iridescent glass, opaque glass