How Does Your Garden Path and Persian Garden Grow?

By Barb Chamberlain

These two patterns, Garden Path and Persian Garden, were the products of the Dugan company. They are not the same, but intricate enough to pose some problems of identifying the patterns for the new collectors.

Then to complicate the situation, Marion Hartung, one of the two ladies that identified and named most of the patterns, indicates that Garden Path has a Garden Path Variant. She illustrated both in her ten book series.

This is a small Garden Path Variant plate. Notice how the center motif is less busy than the purple chop plate shown.

The pattern she drew for Garden Path has a less intricate pattern radiating from the center than the Garden Path Variant pattern. Then on the outside edge of that central motif, she draws a series of two petal glowers and doesn’t include the inverted heart with wings, as Dave Doty calls it.

On the Garden Path Variant, Mrs. Hartung shows the center motif which is more detailed and adds give petal glowers rather than the two petal glowers on the original. The inverted winged hearts are shown on the outside edge of the central design.

I have a theory that Marion drew the Garden Path from a small six and one-half inch white plate. First of all, it is harder to see a pattern on a white piece of glass. Second, the plate is smaller and wouldn’t necessarily have as much detail in the central design. The white plate she used might have been molded later and the design wasn’t as sharp as the Garden Path Variant piece that she used in her drawing of Garden Path Variant. The flowers and hearts are not as distinct on our white Garden Path Variant six and one-half inch plate as our purple Garden Path Variant large bowl.

If you notice the outside edge of the six inch plate, it is extremely hard to see the `five petal `lower and the winged hearts motif is also a little difficult to see.

This purple Garden Path Variant chop plate shows the pattern in all its glory. Note the more intricate pattern on the interior of the design.

This large purple Garden Path Variant bowl is unusual in the fact that it is a low ice cream shape bowl.

Both the small plate and the large bowl have the Soda Gold exterior. Known shapes in this pattern include nine to eleven inch bowls in ice cream, round, or ruffled bowls, small plates, rosebowls, and the coveted chop plates. The colors found are marigold, peach opal, purple, or white, but not all colors have been reported as selling and may not exist. From the pictures of items that have sold, the pieces all have been in the Garden Path Variant pattern. A small Garden Path Variant bowl reported in ice blue was sold on eBay.

The exterior of the Garden Path bowl is Soda Gold as illustrated above.

To complicate the situation, the Persian Garden pattern, also made by Dugan, presents a design that could be confusing for newer collectors. It isn’t nearly the same, but confusing to me a bit. As with the Garden Path variation in the pattern from the small plate or bowl to the chop plate or large bowl, the intricacy of the pattern on the small plate or bowl is much less complicated or busy compared to the large bowl or chop plate.

The white Persian Garden chop plate contrasts the design of the Garden Path Variant at the top of this page.

Note that the small peach opal piece above shows a minimum of the pattern as compared to the chop plate to the left.

The large bowls or chop plates have some of those same give petal glowers around the intricate middle design, while the same motif on the small plate is much less discernible in the design. Again, if Mrs. Hartung wasn’t looking carefully, and she had drawn the design of the small plate, she might have missed the give petal glowers, and that might have resulted in a variant. The give petal glowers are easier to see on the small bowl than on the small plate.

Most of the pieces of Persian Garden carry the unique basketweave exterior, but the small white plates sometimes have the Pool of Pearls exterior which features large `lowers in addition to the “pearls”.

Most often the Persian Medallion pieces have the more complex Dugan Basketweave exterior. The small white Persian Garden plates often are found with the Pool of Pearls exterior.

Shown above is the two piece fruit bowl set in purple. The bowl was made from the same mold as the ruffled bowls. The base mold was also used to make vases, which feature the `lames at the top rather than the ruffles.

Persian Garden can be found in large ice cream shape bowls, large ruffled bowls, chop plates, small plates about six or six and a half inch, small seven or seven and one-half inch plates, small bowls, and a fruit bowl with base. The fruit bowl was made from the same mold as the large bowls and chop plate.

Probably the rarest piece of Persian Garden is this emerald green ruffled bowl.

Colors available, although not in all shapes are amethyst or purple, lavender, peach opal, white, marigold, blue, and green. The only reported marigold that have sold are the small six inch size plate, blue is found on small plates (but not found often), and the only emerald piece found in green is a large ruffled bowl, a fantastic piece of glass.

My question is, do any of the other colors than white in small plates or bowls have the Pool of Pearls exterior? If so , please send a photo of you piece for future inclusion in The Carnival Pump. Email me at dbcham@iowatelecom.net or send photo to me at to 124 E. Honey Creek Dr., Manchester, IA 52057.

Thanks to Seeck Auctions for photos of the fruit bowl and emerald green bowl.

This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the September 2019 issue and is reprinted with permission.