In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, not just for human moms but for birds – and not just feathered birds on twigged and grassy nests but moulded birds on glassy nests! In my last column, I shared a photo of my Caramel Slag Westmoreland hen on its nest. I thought I’d continue exploring that nesting theme in my article for this month’s column.

Birds and animals on nests were produced by a variety of companies, going at least as far back as the 19th century. Some of these seem odd to those of us with actual farming backgrounds since most of us never saw real animals, such as a cow, lambs, rabbits, cats, dogs – and even a frog – sitting on nests, so I’ll stick to the birds for this article!

Many older glass companies, most of them no longer working, made hens or other birds on nests, notably Atterbury, Westmoreland, Fenton, Imperial, and Indiana. There are a few examples of the form from even older companies, such as Coudersport Glass in Pennsylvania (in business for only four years, 1900-1904), whose operations were cut short, often by factory fires. Birds on nests were also made by newer glass companies, such as Summit Art Glass (founded in 1972 and closed in 2006), Boyd’s Crystal Art Glass (founded in 1978 and closed in 2014), and Mosser Glass (still very much alive and operating in Cambridge, OH, and still using some of the old methods of producing decorative glass).

Fenton appears to have been the most prolific maker of hens on nest, usually coming out with them annually for the company’s spring catalogs. In fact, until recently, I’ve avoided many of the hens on nest because I really wanted to focus my collection on Fenton glass (in order to have living space for myself!) and didn’t trust myself to be able to distinguish older, unmarked Fenton versions rom those produced by other companies. Then I was alerted to the existence of an online source that allows one to distinguish even the older, unmarked Fenton from those of other makers (www.fentonaddict.com/FeaturesandCharacteristics.html). This site has a lot of information, and it can be tough to distill from it the essential differences between Fenton hens and those made by other companies, so I’ll review some of the most obvious differences here.

• The Fenton hen’s tail is smooth at the rear edge and splits into a sharp inverted “V” at the back (Other makers’ hens have scalloped edges to the tail feathers).
• A pair of eggs appears on each side of the front of the Fenton hen with one egg on both sides at the rear.
• The comb on the Fenton hen has a cluster of round balls in the back that continue into a recognizable comb at the front (although I do have a Westmoreland hen on nest with the same feature).
• The eyes on Fenton hens tend to be large with a pronounced outward bulge.

Moulded Glass

One of the challenges in collecting American art glass is identifying the maker, given the amount of mould swapping that took place between companies. This usually happened when a glass company went out of business and remaining companies acquired their moulds at auction. For example, a Kokomo (in business 1900-1905 and named for its Indiana town) Paneled Grape Creamer was made later by Westmoreland and a version was also sold by retailer LG Wright, for whom many companies produced glass.

For early 20th century glassmakers such as Fenton, Atterbury, Indiana, and others, glass moulds were made of cast iron, so buying and transporting them from one company to another was no easy feat. For example, the mould to make Fenton’s “Alley Cat” weighs 250 pounds – and that was one of the lighter ones! The 11” Alley Cat began its life with U.S. [Tiffin] Glass in the 1930s and was named “Sassie Susan.” Tiffin made it in two colors, black and white. Fenton acquired the mould from U.S. Glass in the mid-1960s and brought out its first Alley Cat in 1970, since made in numerous colors.

In researching this article, I found out that the smaller Happy Cat mould, today owned by the Fenton Art Glass Collectors of America [FAGCA], also began its life with Tiffin,* which made it in cold-painted black. I have also seen the mould for Fenton’s Donkey and Cart attributed both to U.S. [Tiffin] Glass and Duncan & Miller, but I’m skeptical of the Tiffin attribution because it seems to have a pony drawing the wagon vs the long, forward projecting ears of the donkey in the Duncan & Miller and Fenton versions.

Sometimes, mould swapping would involve more than two companies. For example, the Fenton Butterfly Box (model #6940) originated with Verlys, then passed to Hollophane before being acquired by Fenton, whose first production of it was around 2005.

Acquiring a mould didn’t necessarily mean success in using it. An example is the large Chanticleer rooster (model #5077) that began its life from a Fostoria mould in the 1950s before it was acquired by Fenton in 2004. Fenton experienced some of the same problems Fostoria did with this gorgeous but elaborate model: the tails simply didn’t want to come out of the mould without breaking. Glass formula didn’t seem to make a difference; Fostoria’s milk glass version had the same problems as Fenton’s Periwinkle Blue version, and Fenton never tried the model again.

Since the closing of its factory, the Fenton family has retained several of its moulds, occasionally renting them out to other glassmakers such as John and Ann Fenton (not related to the Fenton factory family) in Springfield, MO. While that company at first borrowed moulds from Fenton to make glass from Fenton cullet, John also makes his own glass models and Ann is a glass painter.

Rosenthal Co.

Some of the most finely modeled porcelain figurines have been produced under the name Rosenthal. There are many sold examples on eBay and live auction sites in a very wide price range, from the low two figures for smaller animals to the mid-three figures for larger items. The company, still in business today, has a fascinating history.

The Rosenthal Co. was founded in 1884 by Phillip Rosenthal. It started out buying porcelain from the Hutschenreuther company (which Rosenthal actually acquired in 2000) and painting it at its own Rosenthal facilities. By 1891, Rosenthal was making its own porcelain.

The family was Jewish in name and family history if not in practice (some sources say Phillippe Rosenthal, Sr. was actually Catholic) and was identified as Jewish by the powers that be in the National Socialist takeover of Germany. The Rosenthals were forced into exile in the 1930s during the rise of Nazism. The company continued operating, with deteriorating results, through World War II under the dubious leadership of the Nazi party while the founder’s son, Phillippe Rosenthal, Jr., fought against the Nazis as a soldier during the war. At the end of the war, the Rosenthal family returned to Germany in an effort to regain control of their company, which they were finally able to achieve in 1950.

The company went permanently out of family control in the 1990s and is now run by Sambonet. The company retains the Rosenthal name and today produces mostly fine china such as dishware, but many buyers knowledgeable about Rosenthal continue to collect its older figurines. Like many of the German and Scandinavian porcelain companies, production year is identified by evolved changes in the mark itself and by a system of dots within the mark (photos of which marks evolution can be found in an online search).

Most information publicly available about Rosenthal figurines comes from the Internet. I’ve found only two books that cover the company, and they typically focus on the dinnerware and other household items: Rosenthal Dining Services, Figurines, Ornaments and Art by Dieter Struss, published by Schiffer in 1997; and Rosenthal, Excellence for All Times; Dinnerware, Accessories, Cutlery, and Glass by Ann Kerr in 1998, also published by Schiffer. Rosenthal figurines are not a significant part of either book, both of which focus primarily on dinnerware and other household porcelains.

Antique Watches

Antique watches are a popular collectible – especially those made of gold. My dad had a watch like that, one that he wore each night when he dressed for his job as a security guard. The watch was solid gold, in good working order, and had belonged to his grandfather.

Dad worked the 3-11 shift, and when we kids were little, we’d ask as he was going off to work, “Daddy, can we hear the tick-tick?” My dad would take out his grandfather’s pocket watch and hold it to the ear of each child. Unfortunately, we were too small to remember the decorative detail on the case, which was less important to us than the sound.

Collecting antique watches

Watches with some age on them, especially pocket watches, used to be a popular collectible. Pocket watches were made in larger sizes for men and smaller for women. Some were made with sterling silver cases and can command prices in the low four figures. A solid gold pocket watch in working order is rarer and can command anywhere from four to six figures at auction, although some antique pocket watches in reasonable condition can still be found at prices in the low three figures. Much of what would be found and collected today, though, is plated and may not be in good working order.

Cases are usually decorated, and not all have the gold face cover that my dad’s had. Decoration on the case can have depictions of trains and other scenes but more commonly have Art Nouveau floral and leaf designs. Today, even the best antique pocket watches may show some minor wear on the case consistent with their age and use.

Wrist watches from the 19th and early 20th centuries and even earlier can cost as much as an antique pocket watch, especially wrist watches made by companies with names such as Rolex, Piaget, Patek Phillipe, and Breguet. The latter company dates from 1775 and produced timepieces for Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Pocket watches were also made by American companies with more familiar and well-known names such as Elgin, Illinois, and Waltham. Abe Lincoln reportedly was given a Waltham pocket watch after his Gettysburg Address.