Mid2Mod: Fenton

Showing posts with label Fenton. Show all posts

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Spaces: Living room built-in

The built-ins in the formal living room hold my daughter's treasures. She started collecting swung vases from estate sales 20 years ago, and I usually give her one or two every Christmas. She also loves Blenko owls and other glass figurals.

Some of my daughter's favorite things

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The ubiquitous swung vase

Makers of mid-century glass, such as Viking Art Glass and L. E. Smith Glass Company, made swung vases, which were very popular. Other companies like Pilgrim, Fenton, Tiffin and Fostoria made their own versions of the swung vase, but they were not as common.

The vases generally ranged in height from a 7” bud vase to the giant “architectural” floor versions that were sometimes over 40” tall. They were hand-blown, then hand-swung to lengthen, and then the opening was hand-tooled and heat polished smooth. The vases were literally swung around to produce the neck, with stunning results.

Popular colors were amberina (an orange-red fading to yellow, also called persimmon), green, amber, red, blue and an opaque orange usually referred to as bittersweet. However, the vases can be found in other colors, such as peach, amethyst, pale yellow, pale aqua and even multi-colored art glass versions.

With the exception of the very large pieces, these iconic mid-century vases were produced in large quantities, so they are still easy to find and very reasonably priced.

L. E. Smith architectural vase
stylehive.com

Tiffin vase
retroartglass.com

Viking vases
retroartglass.com

Fenton hobnail opalescent vase
replacementslimited.com

L. E. Smith aqua blue vase
replacementlimited.com

Fenton amber hobnail vase
replacementslimited.com

Viking amethyst vase
ebay.com

L. E. Smith vase
retroartglass.com

L. E. Smith bittersweet vase
ebay.com

My daughter's collection of swung vases

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Hooray for eBay

How did we make it before eBay and Craigslist? Aside from the obvious instant gratification it gives me, a self-avowed shopaholic, nothing makes my mid-century philosophy of "out with the new, in with the old" easier to put into action than having access to sellers and buyers from around the globe.

I miss many things about the days pre-Bay, but the limitations of using the classified ads section of the local newspaper aren't on the list. Just this week I sold a Frank Lloyd Wright clock on Craigslist to a man from Dallas, which more than paid for my latest eBay purchases, a Raymor bowl from Hawaii and a great mid-century lamp from Oregon.

Here they are now, nestled all snug in their new home, just in time for the holidays:

The $13 Raymor dish, alongside the Fenton piece I love so much

My "new" $29 lamp from eBay

Close-up of the lamp

Monday, September 27, 2010

Dave Fetty gourd vase

Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 and produced prolifically all through the mid-century modern era. Nevertheless, their style during those years, for the most part, remained very traditional. Most Fenton glass, frankly, is too ruffly and cutesy for my taste, although they made a few swung vases I think are nice.

However, when Dave Fetty came to Fenton from Blenko in 1965, he began designing and making some of Fenton’s first limited edition studio pieces, and the company’s aesthetic began to change somewhat. Later, as production supervisor and trainer, he taught other Fenton glassworkers new skills.

Although I’ve never had any desire to own a large collection of Fenton glass, I saw a 12” Dave Fetty gourd vase about a year ago, and it was love at first sight. At the time, I had no idea when it was made, but I knew it would be a perfect fit in my 1950 ranch. As it turns out, it was part of a 2006 limited edition set of 150, but it would be right at home in the midst of some of the most streamlined glass designs of the Fifties. The bent neck gourd shape seems to transcend time and is as beautiful today as it was sixty years ago.

From fentonartglass.com

Friday, September 24, 2010

Glass masters

1950s glass, once called “the collectibles of the future,” has lived up to its name. The exquisite bottles, bowls and vases from Europe and America that graced almost every twentieth century home have now become highly coveted collectors’ items.

Beautiful glass was created by Italians Paolo Venini, Fulvio Bianconi, Dino Martens, Aldo Nason, Flavio Poli and Carlo Scarpa. Scandinavians such as Sweden’s Sven Palmqvist and Vicke Lindstrand, Denmark’s Per Lutken and Otto Brauer, as well as Finland’s Tapia Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva and Kaj Franck satisfied America’s love of dramatic shapes in both clear glass and vibrant colors.

Produced in the United States and perhaps somewhat less exotic to middle-class Americans than European designs were the pieces that came from Blenko, Fenton and Viking. What they lacked in mystique, they made up in accessibility, because almost every mid-century home had a Blenko decanter or carafe, Fenton milk glass or a Viking swung vase.

Most of these pieces were purchased purely for their decorative value and were affordable in almost every home, marking a departure from a time when only the wealthy could own such luxuries.