My First Piece of Cameo Glass

When I got married in 1996, Kelsey Murphy happened to be out visiting my Mom at the time, and was able to attend my wedding. She made this night light as a wedding gift for me. She carved wisteria, and a lovely poem on it. (Just click on the picture to enlarge it)
Not only is it a gorgeous piece, but will always have a very, very special place in my heart. Thank you, Kelsey!
Do you have any pieces that have special meaning to you? Feel free to share below!

“How can I tell if it’s Fenton?”

We hear this question in our store all the time. The answer is not so cut and dry, but let me give you a quick run down.
Fenton Art Glass has been around since 1905. Before the 1970’s, they didn’t mark their glass at all, so to identify it, you will have to buy or check out some books about Fenton glass. (I have links to a few at Amazon.com on the right hand side of this blog.) Read the books, familiarize yourself with the glass.
Now, from the 1970’s on, it gets a little easier. Between 1970 and 1975, Fenton started adding a logo to all of their glass molds. It was an oval with the word Fenton inside it. In the 1980’s, they kept this logo, but added a small number “8″. In the 90’s they added a “9″, and now, they are adding a “0″. This has the added bonus of helping to identify the decade the glass was made.
They have also used a few different logos to signify different things about the piece. For instance, a script “F” inside an oval means that it is a mold Fenton acquired from another glass company.
For a more complete list of logos Fenton has used, with easily recognizable pictures, click here.
It does happen that sometimes the logo gets sort of melted back into the glass while the piece is still hot, and can be very difficult to find, so it’s not a sure-fire way to tell. But most of the time, it works pretty well.
One final note: In 2008, Fenton opened up their International Division, and are now adding a small “USA” to their molds to show the piece was made in the United States.
Any further questions? Feel free to comment below, or email me at jesseandjenni@aol.com.

Example

Summer Is Here!

Summer has definitely arrived here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest! It has been unusually warm for us Washingtonians. While the sun shining through the many windows in our shop makes a gorgeous sight, the old building we’re in has no air conditioning, and being on the 3rd floor surrounded by windows, it gets awfully hot in there. So I wanted to warn everyone that we’ve been having to close early when the sun’s out. And if you’re making a special trip, please call first to make sure someone will be there. Our number is 360-568-1339.
Have a fantastic weekend! Happy Summer!
Jenni

Now Find Us On Facebook!

Collectors’ Showcase now has a page on Facebook! Drop by and say hello!
I uploaded some pictures from the 2009 PNWFA convention, and also some pictures I took in our shop today to our new Facebook page. I think you can view them by clicking here, even if you don’t have a Facebook account. If you do have a Facebook account, don’t forget to “Become a Fan” of our page!

What Interests You?

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day!
We had our annual family reunion, and then finished off the John Adams mini-series we’ve been watching in honor of the occasion. What a beautiful day!
So my question for you today is this:
What kinds of things are interesting to you to read about? What would you like me to write about here? What would you guys like to see discussed?
Thanks for your input, and have a wonderful weekend!
P.S. Watch soon for the announcement of where you can go to take part in an online discussion about the magic of cameo glass with Kelsey Murphy and Robert Bomkamp!!