So much Sarpaneva

Since I mentioned Timo Sarpaneva in yesterday's post, I thought you might like to see a veritable treasure trove of his work that I ran across recently while researching another topic. Oh, how I love serendipitous discoveries like this!

We've had our share of Festivo over the years, but Freeforms has a outstanding variety of pieces from which to choose, each lovely in its own right. I can't imagine having this much of Sarpaneva's work in the store at one time.

All images from freeformsusa.com

Cardinal's Hat bowl in clear and purple glass

Smokey purple bowls

Decanters in colored/clear glass and two-tone bowl

Devil's Churn vases and bowl

Drinking glasses

Finlandia vases

Glass spheres with internal filament

i-glass bottles and decanters

i-glass bowls

i-glass decanter and glasses

i-glass bottles and vases

i-glass bottle and decanters

i-glass stacking decanters

i-glass decanters

Orkidea vases

Recognizing Russel Wright glassware

Some readers indicated that they were unfamiliar with Russel Wright glassware patterns, so I thought I'd post a few photos that might help in identifying them at an estate sale or thrift store.

According to Ann Kerr in Collector's Encyclopedia of Russel Wright, Wright's relationship with Imperial began in 1941 when they produced the seeded glass Flair. In 1949 the Flame line was added, which was later called Twist. These patterns were said to be produced in seaspray (a pale aqua), hemlock (a deep forest green), ripe olive (a deep brown), verde (a green gold) and crystal. These (first and third pictures below) were shown in an early Imperial ad in Kerr's book, along with the Pinch pattern. Kerr also included photos of a slightly different shape of Flair glassware, like the second photo below, although she didn't include an ad verifying the identification. My knowledge isn't extensive enough to confirm or refute this attribution.

Flair by Imperial (spelled "Flare" in early ads)
worthpoint.com

Another Flair shape, according to Ann Kerr
modfather.com

Twist by Imperial (originally called Flame)
modfather.com

The Pinch line by Imperial was added in 1951 to accompany Iroquois Casual. It was produced in verde, seafoam, smoke, cantaloupe, chartreuse, ruby, pink and crystal.

Pinch by Imperial
modfather.com

In 1957 Wright was commissioned to decorate the Oklahoma line of Bartlett-Collins in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The only two designs he allowed his name to be used with in advertising were Eclipse and Asterisk, though other styles were later produced in the tapered Oklahoma shape, as well as in a straight shape. Fellow blogger wedgwoodtulsa has a nice post about Eclipse glassware, as well as the best photos I found of all four colors. In 1958 they were called blue, flamingo, yellow and green, and all had gold moons. In 1960 the color names were changed to blue, tangerine, yellow and green, although flamingo and tangerine were likely the same color.

Eclipse by Bartlett-Collins, sometimes called Sooner glasses
wedgwoodtulsa.blogspot.com

Asterisk by Bartlett-Collins
modfather.com

In 1963 Wright contracted with Yamato in Japan to produce the Theme Formal line, which included these opaline white glasses. Advance sales were not successful, and there are indications that only samples were produced.

Theme Formal by Yamato
modfather.com

I hope this information is beneficial to those of you who are new to Russel Wright glassware and helps you get some great bargains when you're hitting estate sales, thrift stores or eBay.

That's right...more Russel

Last Friday night I was in Russel Wright Heaven, aka Hiram and Andrew's house. (Actually, it was Mid-Century Heaven, period. But more about that in another post.)

Not only do they have more beautiful pieces of Russel Wright furniture than I can begin to list, in addition to the spectacular collection of china that you saw in my post about their home, but they had some "spare" Old Morgantown American Modern glassware they were willing to sell, so of course I joyfully let it follow me home. Now I have 33 new "babies," including 3 wine glasses, 4 cocktail glasses, 8 goblets, 4 water glasses, 4 juice glasses, 8 sherbet dishes and 2 cordial glasses in coral. Only 23 pieces to go before I have 8 of each...plus 8 iced tea glasses and 8 dessert dishes...yes, another collection in the making. (Hiram and I miscounted, and I realized when counting them for the post that I owe him more money. Don't let me forget to pay it!)

In the clean-up stage, after being carefully and lovingly unwrapped

The grand...11 oz. goblets that are over 4" in diameter

The petite...cordial glasses that stand only 2 1/2" high
and are only 2" in diameter

Water and juice glasses

Sherbet dishes

Wine glasses

Cocktail glasses

Safely ensconced in my Drexel Profile china cabinet
with my Russel Wright Iroquois Casual in ripe apricot and avocado yellow

This handmade line was produced in four colors: smoke, seafoam, chartreuse and coral, which was said to be difficult for the factory to achieve with uniformity, according to Ann Kerr's Collector's Encyclopedia of Russel Wright. This explains the variations in color in the pieces I bought. 

The line was produced in 1951 in these items: tumblers in three sizes, a 5 1/4", 15 oz. iced tea, a 4 1/2", 12 oz. water, a 3 3/4", 8 oz. juice; stemmed glasses in five sizes, a 4 1/4", 11 oz. goblet, a 2 3/4", 5 oz. sherbet, a 2 1/2", 3 oz. cocktail, a 4 oz. wine (Kerr didn't list a diameter for this piece.), and a 2", 2 oz. cordial. The cocktail and wine glasses are so similar in size that many collectors have difficulty distinguishing them. In addition to the four colors, the line also included crystal, which is rare.