Fenton Art Glass

Fenton milk glass adorned the shelves, curio cabinets and tables of many of our grandparents and although we did not know it as such, we all have seen at least a few pieces over the years. While Fenton art glass is highly collectable now and can often go for a premium price, it was not always so. Fenton started out as being an affordable alternative to the glass art made by the Tiffany Company, whose glass work was expensive even then.

This does not mean that fenton carnival glass was by any means not quality work, it was indeed high quality work but because it was made of low cost iridized glass and was mass produced it brought art glass into the realms of affordable for the mainstream families. Fenton art milk glass quickly became the top producer of iridized glass, in a rainbow of colors and in over 150 patterns.

When the Great Depression caused hard times in the country, Fenton carnival glass become much less popular and became an almost forgotten luxury. In fact so much so did it wane in popularity that when deep discounts did not sell the Fenton vase glass, supermarkets and cereal promotions began to give it away as promotions to get customers to by their products. The fenton gift shop was also given away as prizes at the carnivals giving it the nickname that it still holds today of Carnival Glass.

As World War II passed and life began to return to normal fenton glassware again become popular and iridized glass was once again being sold and became popular with dealers and collectors throughout the country. Now Fenton art glass is a collector’s item with vintage pieces made in the early twentieth often selling for hundreds and thousands of dollars to collectors.

The red carnival glass that was unique to Fenton is particularly valuable, as it is very rare and it is color that was unique to the Fenton Company. Other things that can make the Fenton art glass popular include rare colors; items that are complex or contain multiple items and are complete and undamaged will also command very high prices.

While the fenton glassware company still exists today and you can still get contemporary pieces at a very reasonable price, it is the vintage pieces that have become the hot commodity. So keep your eyes open when heading to estate and garage sales or heading to the local thrift store, you never know what you might find and what it might be worth.