Identifying Various Varieties of Milk Glass: Milk glass, an antique glass variety, is utilized in crafting a diverse array of items through blowing or pressing techniques to suit various purposes. Dating back to the 16th century, milk glass items have gained popularity among antique enthusiasts, with certain types holding significant value.
Identifying Various Varieties of Milk Glass
The age of milk glass can be identified by its textures, colors, markings, and transparency. Authenticity as an antique can be determined by examining the branding and type of the piece. Attending to these details is crucial in assessing the value of milk glass.
Milk glass is renowned for its beauty and is a popular material for crafting antique glass pieces. Understanding the various styles of milk glass is essential. Continue reading to delve into distinguishing between these distinct types of milk glass.
What is a milk glass?
Before delving into identifying the ages, brands, and types of milk glass, it’s crucial to understand what milk glass is and its distinctions from regular glass. Contrary to its name, milk glass isn’t designed to contain milk; rather, it denotes a specific type of glass utilized in crafting various antique glass pieces.
Milk glass is opaque and can be blown or pressed into various shapes. It’s commonly white but also available in colors like blue, pink, black, yellow, and brown.
Milk glass, initially termed “opal glass,” gained popularity in Venice during the 16th century. It emerged as a rival to porcelain due to its ease of manipulation and lower production costs.
Styles of milk glass evolved over time, transitioning from delicate and dainty in the 1870s to sturdier and more solid in the 1930s. It was employed in crafting various items such as vases, dresser trinkets, cake stands, covered dishes, teacup sets, and dessert dishes. Additionally, milk glass found its way into architectural designs. You Can Also Read: When Was Milk Glass Popular
Milk Glass vs White Glass
Milk glass differs from white glass. While milk glass is slightly opaque, white glass is fully opaque. To discern authentic milk glass, hold it up to a light source and observe for small rainbow colors at the edges of the glass.
Types of Milk Glass
While milk glass is a distinct type of glass, various types and styles exist, including French milk glass, Victorian milk glass, and Hobnail milk glass. Each style possesses unique features and characteristics, distinguishing it from others.
French Milk Glass
French milk glass is a typical style produced in France from 1800 to the 1890s, gaining popularity during the reign of Napoleon III in the 1850s and 1860s. Unlike other milk glass varieties, French milk glass is exclusively found in colors rather than white, retaining its characteristic opacity.
French milk glass stands out from other varieties due to its simplicity. Unlike other styles with intricate detailing or designs, French milk glass is characterized by its plain and straightforward appearance. Its surfaces are typically smooth, and the overall design of each piece exudes a simplistic aesthetic.
Victorian Milk Glass
Victorian milk glass differs significantly from French milk glass in various aspects. It was during the Victorian era that the iconic white color of milk glass gained popularity, leading to the widespread adoption of the term “milk glass.”
Victorian milk glass closely resembled porcelain, gaining immense popularity before declining during the Great Depression. It experienced a resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to endorsements by well-known brands, reviving its appeal.
Victorian milk glass pieces feature intricate details like lace edges, textured surfaces with pyramid shapes, grape and leaf motifs, and animal designs with remarkable attention to detail, including feathers, fur, and feet.
Hobnail Milk Glass
Hobnail milk glass is a style of detailing found on milk glass, rather than belonging to a specific era. Popularized in the 1950s by Fenton, it became a signature style for the brand and was also used in many Victorian pieces.
Hobnail milk glass features a pattern of raised bumps on its surface, also known as “dewdrop” glass. The hobnail pattern, reminiscent of the bottom of boot soles, is created by blowing glass into a mold with this design. The resulting raised texture adds intricate detail and visual interest to the surface, offering a compelling contrast to the smooth finish of traditional milk glass.
Distinguishing the Age of Milk Glass
Now that you’re familiar with some common types of milk glass, let’s discuss how to distinguish between various ages of milk glass. Milk glass has a rich history spanning centuries, with styles evolving significantly across different decades. One method for differentiation involves understanding the characteristics indicative of specific periods in which the milk glass was likely produced.
Style
Milk glass underwent significant transformations over the decades, evolving through distinct stages. These stages can be roughly categorized as follows:
- Simple colored glass pieces
- Textured pieces
- Elaborate white pieces
- Detailed colored pieces
- Simpler white pieces
- Very textured white and colored pieces
Indeed, utilizing these general descriptions can provide insight into the potential age of a piece of milk glass. For instance, a very simple colored piece is likely older than a hobnail-textured piece of milk glass. The evolution of styles and techniques can serve as a rough guide for estimating the relative age of milk glass items.
Brand
Analyzing the brand on milk glass helps gauge its age. Brands varied by era. An early Fenton piece, around 1905, is older than an Anchor Hocking piece from 1939.
Distinguishing the Brand of Milk Glass
Styles and age are effective methods for differentiating milk glass pieces. Brand identification is another crucial factor.
Popular American milk glass brands include Fenton, Anchor Hocking, and Westmoreland. Each brand adheres to distinct traits and common characteristics in their production.
Fenton
Fenton is one of the largest American milk glass brands, with a history dating back to 1905. Despite challenges faced by the glass industry in the 1940s, Fenton continued to thrive, establishing itself as a prominent name in milk glass manufacturing. Today, Fenton remains highly regarded among antique collectors.
Fenton milk glass is distinguished by features like hobnails, ruffles, and crests on its pieces. The brand is renowned for popularizing white hobnail milk glass, a style that became a consistent bestseller for many years. Additionally, Fenton drew inspiration from Victorian designs, incorporating ruffled edges extensively into their creations.
Fenton’s oval crests were integral to their piece designs, often featuring ruffled edges to complement the dish’s overall aesthetic.
Identifying Fenton milk glass
Identifying Fenton milk glass can be done through various methods. Look for an oval Fenton crest stamped in the glass or a Fenton sticker on the bottom. Additionally, the absence of a pontil mark is characteristic of Fenton pieces.
Glass pieces typically exhibit pontil marks from manufacturing, but Fenton glass lacks these marks due to its distinct manufacturing process. Additionally, if a glass piece has noticeable bumps or bubbles, it’s unlikely to be a Fenton piece, as Fenton maintains high quality standards and such imperfections wouldn’t meet their criteria.
Anchor Hocking
Anchor Hocking, founded in 1905, didn’t start manufacturing milk glass until around 1939. This brand is associated with several sub-brands of glassware due to its size. Notably, Fire King is their sub-brand for milk glass.
Fire King produces milk glass similar to Pyrex, with each piece made from low-expansion glass, ensuring oven safety.
During its inception, Fire King products were distributed for free at gas stations and in bags of flour due to slow sales. Fire King milk glass is available in a wide array of colors and shades. As a modern brand, Fire King produces various items, including bowls, casserole dishes, cups, plates, serving platters, and more.
Fire King glass is distinguished by simpler molds and styles compared to Fenton. While not as high-end, Fire King is still widely recognized. The focus of Fire King milk glass is to produce affordable pieces for everyday use. The appeal of their designs lies in the variety of colors available.
Westmoreland
The last glass brand we’ll discuss is Westmoreland Glass, an American company founded in 1889, making it the oldest among the three. Unlike Anchor Hocking and Fire King, Westmoreland primarily focuses on milk glass production, with 90% of their glass output from 1920 to 1950 being milk glass.
Westmoreland milk glass pieces are known for their high quality and intricate detail, featuring patterns like Old Quilt, Paneled and Beaded Grape, Colonial, and more. Unlike Fenton, Westmoreland often uses colored milk glass.
Recognizing Westmoreland milk glass pieces involves identifying various marks associated with the brand. These include a W within a keystone, used from 1910 to 1929; a WG stacked mark from the late 1940s; and the word “Westmoreland” enclosed in a circle, which was used around 1982.
Determining Milk Glass Value
Understanding the differences in styles, ages, and brands of milk glass can aid in assessing the general value of a piece. Generally, older milk glass holds greater value compared to more recent pieces. However, certain styles that were highly popular upon their initial production may still command significant value even in more modern iterations.
Newer milk glass pieces that fetch higher prices typically feature intricate details or originate from well-known, high-end brands. For example, a Fenton piece from almost any era is likely to command a higher price than a Fire King piece.
The style of a milk glass piece is another significant factor influencing its price. Pieces with intricate and detailed designs typically command higher prices. These items were crafted with extra care and skill, making them more valuable. If you possess an old milk glass piece with intricate designs from a popular brand, it could be worth a considerable amount in the antique market.
For additional details on assessing the value of your milk glass, be sure to explore our comprehensive article.
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