Daisy and Plume
By Dr. Larry Keig
Dugan, and possibly Diamond, produced Daisy and Plume. So did Northwood.
Despite researchers’ and reporters’ best intentions, confusion remains because misleading claims and inaccurate information persist. It can be difficult to get a handle on what was made by which company, though more is known now than was a quarter of a century or even a decade ago.
Most Northwood Daisy and Plume is N‐in‐a‐circle marked, but evidently not all of it is. None that was made by Dugan (or Diamond) is marked. Some, but not all, Dugan has holes in the legs. None of Northwood’s has been reported with them. (Jerry Kudlac has plausibly hypothesized that the holes were elements of early molds, eventually eliminated to reduce the likelihood of breakage.)
The Frys have described the legs of Daisy and Plume as “splayed.” That’s a good way to think of them. They are gangly, awkward enough to compromise the esthetic appeal of the shapes on which they are way too prominent.
Dugan Daisy and Plume-Plain Candy Dishes
Dugan’s Daisy and Plume candy dishes are oval-shaped and quite likely available only in peach opal.
The legs on Dugan Daisy and Plume-Plain candy dishes (that is, bowls) lack the narrow ribs which run down the surfaces of Northwood three-legged pieces. The bowl of the candy dish is oblong (some say boat-shaped), about seven and three-fourths inches long and six and one-fourth inches wide. It is approximately five inches tall from top edge to bottom of the feet.
These splayed legs are of the solid variety, but some Dugan candy dishes have been molded with holes.
As Janet Knechtel has reported, the daisies on the Dugan are enveloped, respectively, by 80, 81, and 82 beads, distinguishing them from the Northwood (see below). Each plume is comprised of several “feathers.” The remainder of the surface is stippled.
I have been able to confirm the Dugan candy dish only in peach opal. But they are also said to exist in marigold, amethyst, and lime green with marigold overlay. The marigold over lime green likely would have been made during the late Diamond years, in the After Glow era. Our understanding of Dugan’s Daisy and Plume would be advanced if we could verify examples in colors other than peach opal or, conversely, rule them out.
Dugan’s Daisy and Plume candy dish was introduced in (non‐iridized) opalescent glass in 1906, three years before the firm’s earliest carnival was put on the market. Because the mold was already at hand, the candy dish is probably among Dugan’s first carnival products.
Dugan Daisy and Plume-Cherries Bowls
A splay‐legged Dugan Daisy and Plume mold is also known to have been teamed with a cherries interior. This interior is the same as or nearly identical to the pattern employed on the upper surface of the majority of Paneled Cherries (ball-footed) bowls.
The uniridized exterior of a Dugan Daisy and Plume-Cherries bowl shows off the three- and‐one edge but not the pattern.
Daisy and Plume-Cherries bowls range from eight and one‐half to nine inches in diameter and stand about four inches tall. They have been confirmed with broadly‐ruffled and three-and-one edges. While they have been reported only in amethyst, it is not out of the realm of possibility that marigold, peach opal, and oxblood also exist.
The cherry pattern on the interior of a Dugan Daisy and Plume bowl is virtually the same as that on a ball‐footed Paneled Cherries bowl.
It is probable Daisy and Plume-Cherries bowls were put into production a bit later than the candy dishes, perhaps in late 1911. Why they are so seldom seen remains a mystery, although it is possible the February 5, 1912, fire which destroyed much of the factory had something to do with it.
Northwood Daisy and Plume*
It is easier to find examples of Northwood’s Daisy and Plume than it is Dugan’s. Northwood’s is available in four shapes. Two – a candy dish or bowl and a rose bowl – sit atop splayed legs. The other two – another rose bowl shape and a compote – are stemmed.
Northwood’s candy dish sits on three splayed legs. This one features the blackberry interior.
Candy Dish or Bowl. The splayed legs of Northwood’s candy dish (or bowl), unlike Dugan’s, have raised ribs. The rib at the top of each leg is essentially a means of camouflaging the mold seam that runs from bowl through the leg. The ribs on the sides end at the top of the leg. The pattern-defining flowers are encased, respectively, by 74, 75, and 76 beads, fewer than on the Dugan. These ruffled candy dishes are round (not oblong like Dugan’s) and range from eight to nine inches in diameter.
Northwood’s candy dishes come with unpatterned, rayed, and blackberry interiors. They are available in many vivid and pastel colors: marigold, amethyst, horehound, cobalt, green, lime green with Alaskan iridescence (that is, with a marigold overlay), ice blue and ice green, but not in peach opal.
The three footed Daisy and Plume rosebowl, made by Northwood, would have been made from the same mold as the candy dish.
Splay-Legged Rose Bowl. Likely produced from the same mold as the candy dish, the ruffled three-legged rose bowls stand about five inches tall and have a top opening of approximately three inches. Like the candy dishes, they come with plain, rayed, and blackberry interiors. They have been confirmed in an extensive assortment of colors: marigold, amethyst, cobalt, green, amber, lavender, aqua, white, ice blue, ice green, and aqua opal. But not all the interior patterns are available in each of these colors.
The Northwood stemmed rosebowl and compote were also made with the same mold.
Stemmed Rose Bowl. Stemmed as well as three-legged rose bowls are available. Height of the stemmed, scallop‐topped rose bowls range from just under and over six inches. The diameter at the narrowest point across the top is about two and one-half inches, and the pedestal base diameter is three and one‐half inches. Some are banded near the top; others are not. The confirmed colors are marigold, amethyst, green, and amber.
The Daisy and Plume compote can be found with the plain interior, as pictured here, or the Fern interior.
Compote. The stemmed rose bowls and compotes are almost certainly products of the same mold. The flared compotes measure about four and one-half inches tall and range from six to six and one‐half inches across the top. They come with plain and fern interiors. The reported colors are marigold, amethyst, and green.
The non-marked compotes with plain interior are thought to be Northwood. And there is no empirical evidence to date – in extant trade publications or from the shards retrieved from the factory dumpsite at Indiana, Pennsylvania, by Del Helman and colleagues – to suggest they are Dugan. But I continue to wonder, for most Northwood carnival is marked. Why would unmarked Daisy and Plume-Plain compotes be an exception? Will we someday learn that Dugan did make compotes as well as oval candy dishes and round bowls with cherries interior?
There is no proof, as far as I have been able to determine, that Northwood made the Daisy and Plume-Plain compote, either. This claim appears to be based on an assumption: Because Northwood definitely made compotes, the unmarked one must have been theirs, too.
Desirability
Daisy and Plume is not normally thought of as a top-tier pattern when it comes to desirability. Yet there is demand for select Daisy and Plume. Why are certain items eagerly sought out while others are unceremoniously set aside
Desirability is a complex phenomenon. It includes rarity but is not limited to numbers alone. It also includes elegance or ingeniousness of design, quality of color (base or surface, iridescence, and, where applicable, opalescence), range of colors available (usually the greater the range, the more desirable), and size and shape (the larger or more unusual generally more desirable than the smaller or more conventional). The “common wisdom” of a collector oligarchy – the “snob factor,” a murky and dubitable criterion – often enters in as well.
Despite the scarcity of peach opal “boats” and the rarity of amethyst conventionally-shaped bowls with cherries interior, Dugan’s Daisy and Plume is generally considered only moderately desirable. I suspect, though, that a Daisy and Plume-Cherries bowl with electric or even multicolor iridescence would elicit great interest.
Northwood’s splay‐legged candy dishes and rose bowls in common vivid colors are usually considered pedestrian, with an occasional exception (notably cobalt). Less frequently seen vivid colors like amber are more desirable. Pastels in both shapes are another matter: most of relatively high desirably, one (aqua opal) of extremely high desirability. With Northwood Daisy and Plume, desirability and availability are inversely related, meaning colors that are easily found are rarely highly valued.
Much the same can be said of the stemmed items. The common vivids command little attention from most collectors. The ice blue, however, is highly collectible.
Demand for Daisy and Plume is also limited because of its stylized design. The crude look of the flowers and plumes is anything but awe‐inspiring. But it is what it is.
Note
*I have had to venture outside my comfort zone, into Northwood carnival, in order to compare and contrast the products of two firms. Because my knowledge is limited, I have relied upon generally reliable sources – primarily Carl O. Burns’s Northwood book and Dave Doty’s website. Thus what I present is a summary of and a report on their work, not my own research and observation. While this method is not ideal, it is about all I could do. My hope is that there are no major errors of commission and few of omission.
Northwood photos courtesy of Seeck Auctions
This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the June 2013 issue and is reprinted with permission.
