Holly and Berry

By Dr. Larry Keig

Dugan’s Holly and Berry is a simple but nicely designed Christmas carnival pattern. On its interior, directly above the platform base, are a large leaf, two small leaves, and a cluster of berries. Between the center motif and the outer edge is a dense wreath of leaves and berries, a wreath much like those that hang on doors and in windows during the holiday season. All leaves are stippled. The non-iridized exterior and base, are unpatterned. The pattern is found on a limited number of shapes, edge treatments, and colors.

Bowls

Holly and Berry is found on two shapes: bowls and nappies. Bowls measures seven and one-half inches across, give or take a little either way. They have been reported with but two edge treatments: a typical six-ruffled and a flared with ten square ruffles.*

The gently six-ruffled is the more visually pleasing because the shaping allows the wreath to unfold naturally. It is available in a restricted range of amethyst/purple and peach opal. No amethyst/purple have been reported in lavender or in oxblood, fiery amethyst, or black amethyst. The iridescent quality is highly variable, ranging from bright and colorful to dull and lackluster. Surface color of the peach opal are only occasionally dark and vivid but more often light and lifeless.

Above you see the amethyst and peach opal six-ruffled bowls.

The illustrated are shining stars of the six-ruffled. The amethyst sold on an eBay auction in late 2021. The peach opal changed hands on a Burns auction in September, 2016. It is by far the prettiest peach opal example pictured in the HoC database.

A ten-ruffled bowl is shown above.

The ten-ruffled are less visually satisfying than the six because the ruffling looks scrunched up on such small bowls. These are available in the same colors as the six-ruffled and as variable in color quality. The nice amethyst example shown sold at a Seeck auction in March 2013.

Above are the purple spade-shaped, peach opal ruffled, and marigold spade-shaped nappies.

Nappies

At their widest points, nappies measure about six and one-quarter inches long not including handle and six inches across. They come in two shapes: a spade shape without ruffling and a ruffled version. The spade shape is sometimes referred to as a gravy boat. However, it is doubtful they were ever intended as a vessel from which to pour gravy in the well of fluffy mashed potatoes, thick Vermont maple syrup over fancy waffles on Christmas day or during the Festival of Lights**, or liquids for any other purpose. Both shapes could have functioned as candy dishes but it is unlikely either often served utilitarian duty.

They are available in amethyst/purple, peach opal, and, on occasion, marigold. The amethyst and peach opal are not difficult to find. These colors can be found with great base or surface color and iridescence but are, more often, of marginal quality. The surface color and iridescence on the two marigold examples reported as having sold on the HoC database are uglier than a mud fence. The illustrated amethyst spade, with outstanding iridescence, sold on a Seeck auction in May 2016. The nice ruffled peach opal pictured changed hands at a Seeck auction in March 2014.

Notes

* Dugan’s uniquely-shaped square ruffled bowls are of two types: a nut bowl with nearly, but not quite, perpendicular sides and a more typically shaped version with considerably flatter sides described and pictured here.

** I have never asked Dave Noyes, who is a connoisseur of the finest in maple syrup, if he has ever poured It from a Holly and Berry or, for that matter, any other “gravy boat.” I’d somehow be surprised to learn that he had.

Photos courtesy of Seeck Auctions, Diane Highnam, and Hooked on Carnival.

This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the December 2022 issue and is reprinted with permission.