Fentonia and Fentonia Fruit
By Barb Chamberlain
A challenge is presented to you if you think you would like to collect carnival glass in the Fentonia pattern. It is even more difficult to find something in the Fentonia Fruit pattern. As the name implies, these are Fenton Art Glass Company patterns. The patterns are very similar, and the pieces appear to have been made with the same general molds.
Of the two, Fentonia is a bit easier to obtain. It is only found in water sets, berry sets, and table sets. Blue and marigold are the only two colors that have been reported by Dave Doty as selling. The Whitmyers, 1st Volume of Fenton Art Glass, say the original name was Diamond and Cable, and list bowls and tumblers in green and bowls in violet (which I presume is amethyst), as well as marigold and blue. If these two colors are in reality available, I would enjoy seeing photos of them.
Featured above is the rarely found blue table set in the Fentonia pattern.
Fentonia Fruit was also known as Cherry and Scale. The only piece reported as selling on the Doty website is a blue tumbler. Carnival Glass 101 shows photos of marigold and blue nine‐inch bowls, and a ruffled marigold bowl, which is very unusual shaping for this Fentonia Fruit pattern. If there is a tumbler, is there a water pitcher? There are no reported water pitchers known in Fentonia Fruit.
Tumblers -‐ Fentonia, left; Fentonia Fruit, right.
These two patterns are so similar that you really have to look at the pattern closely to see which of the patterns is represented. The pattern itself features rows of diamonds with fillers. On the Fentonia Fruit, alternating rows feature bunches of cherries with Fenton’s typical scale pattern in the other diamonds. The Fentonia pattern has the same scale filler diamonds, but the alternating rows feature a stylized embroidery‐looking snowflake pattern that features a button in the middle with buttons that end each of the ten radiating lines that form the snowflake. The Whitmyers also list a rare vase. Wouldn’t vase lovers like to find this one?
Note the snowflake pattern for the top row on the Fentonia on the left. The top row on the Fentonia Fruit on the right features the cherry clusters. The second row of each has the scale pattern within the diamonds. The snowflake and cherry patterns repeat as the rows descend.
The Fentonia Fruit pattern is pictured in the Heacock Fenton book in a custard glass berry set and water set. Thomas K. Smith, in his Fenton Rarities book, pictured a custard table set.
If you have other shapes or colors in either the Fentonia or Fentonia Fruit carnival glass pattern, or if you just would like to share some of your pieces of this scarce pattern, please send a photo, and I will include it in a future issue of this newsletter. I would really like to see a photo of a green or amethyst piece if they exist, as well as the vase if it is known.
Photos courtesy of Seeck Auctions and the author.
This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the March 2015 issue and is reprinted with permission.
Update: Hooked on Carnival shows auction records for Fentonia Fruit in large bowls (blue and marigold) and small/sauce bowl in marigold. 2024