Ruby Stain Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 2

IMPERIAL NO. 9
MFR: Imperial Glass Co.
YOP: 1904-1932+
NAME: By manufacturer
OTHER: Pecorah, Malvern, Tulip & Cane
REF: Millard, S.T.: Goblets I, 1938, Plate 150; Kamm Book 7, Page 61, Plate No. 82.

This pattern has had a long life. It was in Imperial's first trade catalog. A pale blue wine is shown as Item No. 2676 in the Imperial Glass Encyclopedia, apparently of recent vintage. [Measell, J.(Ed.): op cit., 1999.] Catalog 101D, 1920-1932, shows 4 stems, 1.5, 3, 4 and 8 oz, as part of a "Rubigold" (carnival) assortment. [Archer, M. & D.: Imperial Glass, Collector Glass, 1978, p. 121.] At one point it was an extensive line, as originally there were about 75 forms.

The pattern has drawn good and bad reviews. Metz called it Pecorah and dismissed it thus: "Goblet is the least offending in design of the pattern; sugars and creamers are awkward and clumsy and fussy and not E.A.P.G." [Metz, A.H.: Much More Early American Pattern Glass, Book II, 1965, p.179.] Bob Batty states that since Kamm never saw a piece and since collectors cannot remember numbers it had to be named, he never heard of Millard. "...a name without numbers is attached to this beautiful, but not very old, pattern. Its beauty reminds one of the tree-shaded streets of Malvern, Arkansas, and its seventy-five different items [forms] equal to the products of that industrial city." Bob never met a pattern he didn't name, generally after an Arkansas city. [Batty, B.H.: The Complete Guide to Pressed Glass, Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, La, 1978, Page 229, Plate No. 277.]

This is the first reference to the pattern being found in ruby stain.

LOUISIANA
MFR: U.S. Glass Company
YOP: 1898
OMN: U.S. Glass, No. 15053
REF: Reilly, D. & B. Jenks: U.S. Glass The States Patterns; 1998, Pages 25-26.

One of the States patterns of U.S. Glass. Despite it being produced during the pre-eBay height of popularity of ruby stain, there is no known reference to the existence of ruby stained Louisiana. Indeed, the two pieces that I have come from a 35 year collection of the Louisiana pattern.

IMPERIAL NUMBER 261
MFR: Imperial Glass Company
YOP: 1904, in first catalog
NAME: By manufacturer
OTHER: Beaded Oval [Unitt Book 2]
REF: Kamm: Book 7, Pages 10-11, Plate No. 88
LOOK ALIKE: Beaded Oval, Louisiana

Imperial No. 261 and Louisiana are very similar patterns. A picture of them side by side is attached for comparison.

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