Open Edge Eye Opener

By Bob Patterson

Both of these Fenton Blackberry Open Edge baskets were found at a local swap meet. While found on different dates the real difference was not noticed at first glance. The celeste blue example was found a couple of years ago and the amethyst example was found very recently. The amethyst one looked different from the others I have seen when I first picked it up. I noticed that it was deeper than any I had seen before and not flared out. The mould strike was the best I had ever seen. The price was right, so it went home with me. That was the only piece of Carnival Glass that I found that day.

As you see on the celeste blue Blackberry Open Edge piece on the left, the holes are more rounded than the holes on the amethyst example on the right. They appear to have square corners.

When I got home after cleaning the years of dirt and grime off of it, I discovered what was different about it. All my other open edge Carnival Glass pieces had oval holes in the webbing. Because the amethyst basket had not been flared out and had the crisp mould strike, I could see that the holes were square when they came from the mould! As the hot glass was stretched during flaring, the edges were rounded. The more the glass was stretched the more the mould strike crispness is also lost. Most of the readers of The Carnival Pump will have several examples with an open edge. I can see, in the haziness of my mind, everyone checking their Fenton Open Edge pieces. I have ten and only my recent find has the square holes. Don’t get me wrong about this, I would have preferred that it was a plate when I found it, but it will still be a keeper. It reminds me that I started out kind of square and as the years pass by the rounder I get!

Although not as pronounced as the holes on the inside of the amethyst Blackberry Open Edge piece, the back shows more squared-off holes than the holes on the celeste piece.

Photos courtesy of Bob Patterson.

This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the December 2017 issue and is reprinted with permission.