The Fenton Art Glass Company was established in 1905 in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio. The intention of the founders was to decorate glass made by other companies with enamel paints. However, it quickly became obvious that, in order to have the glass blanks needed for the decoration, the Fenton Company was going to have to make their own glass. Therefore, a glass plant was built in Williamstown, West Virginia, and Fenton began producing the glass in 1907. Soon Fenton was leading the way in developing carnival glass, and Fenton has also introduced many new colors of glass to the glass world. Fenton’s glass finishing techniques have included etching, enamel painted designs, wheel cutting, applied metal decorations, gilt edges, and, early in the company’s history, non-fired colored paints.
Fenton was a leading producer of carnival glass from 1908 to 1920, and had over one hundred and fifty patterns of carnival glass in production during those years. This form of glass was reintroduced in the 1960′s by other companies, and Fenton followed suit in the 1970′s, but with an added raised oval trademark to all their ware, so newer carnival glass by Fenton can be differentiated from the older pieces. Fenton’s reintroduction of carnival glass included the old molds of theirs and other companies, and new patterns were also created. In honor of the United States bi-centennial, red, white and blue carnival glass items were featured In 1976.
Another Fenton development was the “crest” glasses. Fenton experiments produced white milk glass with clear and opalescent edges, and later white glass with colored edges as well as colored glass with white edged. In the later part of the Twentieth Century, Fenton began an Artist in Residence program to create art glass wares included vases and eggs. The company has also recapitulated some of the Early American wares and Pattern glass in new forms to increase their popularity with glass collectors. Fenton joined forces with QVC in the late 1980′s, selling Birthstone Bears and other Fenton items through the TV shopping channel. Fenton Art Glass also established a web site where collectors can shop, subscribe to news. By these adaptations, Fenton, threatened several times with imminent closure, has been able to modify their business practices and stay in business. As late as 2009-2010, Fenton was introducing new colors named Jolly Green and Robin’s Egg Blue.
Final Word: There are bound to be colors and/or painted decorations and/or shapes that please your eye and taste. Buying those pieces (hopefully below published price) to add to a collection is palatable, but this glass is readily available on the secondary market and whether you can get your money back by selling it is doubtful. Buy with care and plan to keep your purchases, as selling to recoup your “investment” is not going to be easy.
Learn more about glass collectibles in general.
Go to the Table of Contents to see all the topics covered so far.
Click American collectibles to go to the latest entry on this site.