Bud Vases

Glassworks, Vol. 6, No. 3, April-May 1999

by Larry Baker

One of the fun things about collecting glass is the many ‘little collections’ that creep into our ‘main collections’. It is fantastic that our glass collections can grow and change with us... always staying fresh and interesting! Elegant Glass bud vases are one of our ‘little collections’. They are a fun way to find examples of many different companies’ glassware. They are relatively inexpensive. And they come in a multitude of colors and decorations!

Virtually all of the Depression Era glass companies made bud vases. The shapes of these are often almost identical, one company to the next. The only way to identify some of them is by the decoration, but even this is often no help at all! I can not provide you with a definitive bud vase identification guide, but I thought it would be fun to share a few bud vases from Fostoria, Morgantown and Tiffin with you.

[Photo 1] Fostoria made comparatively few bud vases. The pressed American and Colony bud vases are the best known. They were made for decades! Fostoria also made a few blown bud vases that had a much shorter production life. These are often overlooked and are just waiting to be discovered.

Left is the #5085 eight-inch Blue and right, the #5086 nine-inch Green Spiral Optic. These bud vases were made in the latter half of the ’Twenties in many pastel colors.

[Photo 2] I have not seen the #2312 ten-inch Ebony vase in any other color. It was, likewise, a ’Twenties design.

[Photo 3] The #5088 bud vases are fun to find! Left is the five-inch Empire Green bowl. Middle is the eight-inch Regal Blue bowl. They were made in the ’Thirties dark colors with contrasting Crystal foot and in solid ebony. Fostoria also contrasted these with Crystal bowls and colored feet! Some pastel combinations were also made. These would make great go-withs for the #4024 Victorian Stem Line! The Deco #4020 Stem Line actually had an official bud vase to complete the service! Right is the seven and a half-inch Crystal bowl with Green base #4020 bud vase. The Spiral Optic bowl came solid colored (or solid Crystal), colored bowl with Crystal foot or Crystal bowl with colored foot.

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[Photo 4] Morgantown made many different styles of bud vases. They seem to have been extra fond of bi-colored items, from the "Two-Toned Art Ware" of the early Twenties to the intense colors of the ’Thirties (with Crystal trim,) bi-colored items were almost the norm for Morgantown! Interestingly, opaque colors were usually solid color. Pictured (left) is the #45 Catherine bud vase, ten-inch size, Laurel Two-Toned Art Ware (Crystal with Green Trim). The little flare at the top is one of the keys to differentiating this Morgantown bud vase from similar vases from other companies. In the middle is a pair of #53 Serenade ten-inch bud vases, Stiegel Green with Crystal foot and all-Jade. Right is the #54 Media ten-inch bud vase, Jade with Green foot and fancy cold enamel decoration. These latter two vases are very popular with Morgantown collectors. They can be found in most of the Depression Era pastels, opaques and dark colors.

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[Photo 5] Tiffin / US Glass made a wide variety of vases, including bud vases. Some of the Tiffin Depression Era bud vases that are clearly identifiable include (left) the #9726 ten-inch bud vase, shown in Crystal with Diana etching. Note how similar it is to the Morgantown Media bud vase. The #004 ten-inch (plus a little!!) bud vase, Crystal, with its ‘base ball bat’ stem (right), is a very elegant design. Both are usually found in Crystal with etchings and cuttings.

[Photo 6] Perhaps the most readily recognizable ones were made in Tiffin’s famous Satin Glass. The #14185. was made in six, eight and ten-inch sizes. Shown are ten-inch bud vases: Canary with Aster etching (left), Blue Satin bowl with Canary Satin foot (middle) and all-Rose (pink) Satin (right). The Blue and Canary combination is a favorite with collectors. This bud vase was also made in Crystal with numerous etchings and cuttings. They have also been found in opal, Tiffin’s milk glass. You could have quite a collection of bud vases by finding the many different sizes, colors and decorations made! They are often found with popular etchings, like Fuchsia and Cherokee Rose.

[Photo 7] Tiffin’s #9727 ten-inch bud vase (left) could be confused with Morgantown’s Serenade (right). It also had a long production life, being made in the Depression Era and again in the ’Fifties. It is shown in Reflex Green Satin and Killarney Green bowl with Crystal foot.

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These are just a sampling of the bud vases out there. Of course, many other glass companies made bud vases, too. Try paying a little extra attention to the bud vases you see in the shops and flea markets. You will be amazed at the number and variety you find!

Bud vases started out as a separate collection for us. Don started collecting the inexpensive florist bud vases before he got interested in Elegant Glass. No, they are not ‘big deals’ or highly sought after... but it was really amazing to see the collection of bright colors and soft pastels really come together and create a beautiful display! Perhaps there is a lesson here, that we collectors often forget: the beauty of the glass is what first attracted us. Who made the item and its history, while very important, would not matter -- if we are not first attracted to it! Take a look at your own collections for the little items that you bought "just because." Don’t they make you smile? In many ways, that is what collecting glass is all about!

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