Rib and Panel, Fenton
These blow-moulded vases are found in two sizes, a number of different configurations, and always in marigold. Spittoon-shaped vases are usually around five inches high, taller vases, around eight inches high.

For more than a hundred years the maker of these intriguing vases was a mystery. Read the article by Alan and Lorraine Pickup below outlining some of the confusion.

It wasn't until December 2016 that the mystery was finally solved. Phil Prince found a Fenton ad in a 1909 Sears catalog that definitively established Fenton attribution. It also established that these vases were produced at least as early as 1909. See the Fenton ad and read all about this astonishing discovery on Glen and Steve Thistlewood's site.

Spittoon-type whimsies similar to the one shown above left sold in 2007 for $55, $165, and $300 and in 2009 for $40 and $110. In 2013, an example sold for $45. In 2016, a similar example brought $55. In 2021, another sold for $40.

Vases

Marigold, 7-9 inch, 45 (2016), 75 (2018), 135 (2019), 20, 50, 70 (all 2021)

Marigold, 5-5 1/2-inch, 50 (2014), 55 (2016), 30 (2017), 65 (2020)


Rib and Panel Vase
Colonial Lady Variation? Or Pinched Rib?
By Alan and Lorraine Pickup
From HOACGA bulletin, January 2009

Where do we start on this one? This is one of those articles, which will make some collectors very happy and others extremely sad. We can start by saying that the vase is a blown vase. The examples we have examined all have a pontil mark that is ground by the factory. And the vases vary somewhat in size or shape. Some are even cuspidor shaped. The smaller Colonial Lady vase is pressed glass.

As we write this article, the room is filled with open books and they all seem to conflict with each other as to who made these blown vases or what they are called. We will not pretend to know the answers, but invite you, the readers, to come to your own conclusion.

First, the Colonial Lady as described by Marion Hartung is attributed to Cambridge Glass Company, and has only sixteen depressed panels that are rounded at the top, and has fifteen rays impressed on the underside. (Page 26, Book #7). Known today to be made by Imperial. The Rib and Panel vase has twenty-one panels in raised vertical ribs or lines that start on the underside and continue to the top without rounding out at the top.

Sherman Hand's book (1978) shows our tall vase as Rib and Panel and also shows it in the cuspidor shape. Priced and $35 to $75 respectively. He doesn't attempt to guess at the maker. Bill Edwards' book, the 5th edition, shows basically the same vase with a slightly different shape. Blown vases would all vary somewhat in shape and size. He repeats Sherman Hand's remarks and states that both Fenton and Dugan-Diamond are mentioned as possible makers, but mentioned by whom? His price for a marigold vase was $50 then and the 9th edition shows it as $125.

Now let's look at the two last books. First the HOAGCA notebook ballyhoos this Rib and Panel vase as being a very rare Colonial Lady Variant and not Rib and Panel as suggested by Sherman Hand, referring to the Carl Burns' Imperial book as proof. Carl then makes such statements as "previously unlisted marigold example that is shown here" gives an interesting write-up and "the example shown here is the only known example, to date, in any color."

Wow, pretty strong stuff in light of the fact that the vase has been listed in Sherman Hand's book and listed in Edwards' price guide for years. Burns' suggested price listed it at $1500. So that gives us a price range from Hand's $35 to Burns' $1500. Boy, no wonder the antique malls are confused on how to set their pieces. Okay folks, now it is time to reach your conclusions.


Updated 12/14/2021