Back Patterns

Back Patterns in Classic Carnival Glass
While some patterns have a plain back, some patterns have several different backs. Sometimes which back pattern is used has no effect on the price--sometimes it has a great effect. Here are a few patterns that appear on the backs of bowls, plates, and compotes. Thanks to Samantha Prince for the use of some of her photos.
> Arcs, Imperial Found on Cobblestones, Pansy, and Star of David. Hartung Book One: Arcs	Basketweave, Dugan Found on Apple Blossom Twigs, Fanciful, Persian Garden, and Wishbone and Spades.	Basketweave, Fenton Mostly seen without an interior on Open Edge pieces, but also found with the Blackberry interior.
Basketweave, Northwood Found on Good Luck, Grape and Cable, Strawberry, and a number of other Northwood patterns.	Basketweave, Northwood This is the basketweave that appears on the back of Rose Show pieces. Poppy Show has a different pattern (see Reeds, below).	Beads, Dugan Found on Fishscale and Beads and Honeycomb and Beads.
Bearded Berry, Fenton Named for the "whiskers" that stick out of the berry shapes. Found on Orange Tree and several other Fenton patterns.	Berry and Leaf Circles, Fenton Some Horse Medallion and Leaf Chain pieces carry this back pattern.	Blossoms and Palms, Northwood Found on Grape Leaves as well as without a front pattern
Butterfly and Berry This pattern can be seen on the back of Fenton's Butterfly and Berry, Fantail, and Panther bowls.	Cactus, Millersburg Found on the reverse of the Rays and Ribbons pattern. Hartung Cactus	Christmas Compote, Dugan The pattern on the exterior of the Christmas Compote is similar to that on the inside.
Compass, Dugan Found on Ski Star and Dugan's version of Heavy Grape. Hartung Compass	Country Kitchen Millersburg's Fleur de Lis collar-base bowls carry this pattern.	Diamond and Fan, Millersburg This is the back pattern for Nesting Swan pieces.
Eastern Star, Imperial This pattern is found on the exterior of large Scroll Embossed compotes.	File, Imperial These are often found as the exterior of Scroll Embossed bowls but also exist without a front pattern.	Fine Cut Hearts, Millersburg This is the back pattern for Millersburg's Primrose pattern.
Floral and Wheat, Dugan This is the exterior pattern for Dugan's Puzzle bonbons.	Georgia Belle, Dugan Dugan's Question Marks compotes have Georgia Belle as the exterior--some have been flattened to cake plates.	Grape, Imperial Imperial used a pattern on the reverse of it's Grape bowls and plates that is similar to the front pattern.
Hattie, Imperial This is the only Carnival pattern in which the back pattern is exactly the same as the front pattern.	Hobnail, Millersburg This is the back pattern for Millersburg's Vintage Hobnail and some Hanging Cherries.	Hobstar and Tassle, Imperial Found on some Scroll Embossed bowls.
Honeycomb and Clover, Fenton Found on the reverse of Feathered Serpent.	Inverted Feather and Fan, Dugan Dugan used this pattern on the exterior of their Butterfly and Tulip bowls.	Jeweled Heart, Dugan Dugan used this pattern on the back of some Cherries bowls. Also found on Farmyard, Petal and Fan, and Smooth Rays.
Keyhole, Dugan Keyhole was used widely prior to the Carnival era on opalescent glass and is seen on Carnival Raindrops bowls. Hartung Book Five: Keyhole	Lightning Flower, Northwood Lightning Flower is named for the angular stems on the flowers. The interior has a floral pattern.	Meander, Northwood This is an old Jefferson mold that Northwood used on the back of Three Fruits Medallion, Sunflower, and some Grape and Cable.
Orange Tree, Fenton Orange Tree, which is found as the front of that pattern, is also used as the exterior of Cherry Chain.	Reeds, Northwood For want of a better name, I've used this to designate the pattern of irregular thin lines on the backs of Poppy Show bowls and plates. Rose Show pieces have a version of basketweave.	Ribbed, Northwood Northwood seems to have randomly used this back design on some patterns, alternating it with plain or basketweave. Typical are Embroidered Mums, Good Luck, Grape and Cable, Hearts and Flowers, Nippon and Peacocks.
Roses and Greek Key The back pattern on these rare plates are almost identical to the front, with the back being in lower relief than the front.	Ruffles and Rings, Northwood Another mold purchased from Jefferson. It is used on Rosette and some Wishbone.	Scale Band, Fenton This is the back pattern to some Fenton Stippled Rays plates and bowls.
Sea Foam, Dugan "Sea Foam" is used by many collectors to identify the exterior pattern of Constellation compotes. The "constellation," a beaded star, is on the interior.	Soda Gold, Dugan This pattern was used on the back of some Four Flowers pieces (shown here) and some Garden Path.	Thumbprint This is the back pattern for Four Flowers Variant--the European version.
Trefoil Fine Cut, Millersburg Used on the reverse of Many Stars and Bernheimer bowls, but shown here is the only piece, a chop plate, with the back pattern only.	Vintage, Northwood This appears on the exterior of Star of David and Bows bowls and, in combination with basketweave, the reverse of dome-footed Three Fruits bowls. Hartung Book Four: Northwood Vintage	Waterlily and Cattails, Fenton Fenton used this pattern on the exterior of its Thistle banana boats.
Wildflower, Northwood Northwood's Wildflower pattern appears on the exterior of Blossomtime compotes.	Pool of Pearls, Dugan This appears on the back of some Dugan Persian Garden small plates in white. An odd anomaly.