Primrose Anomalies

by Philip F. Keller
Photography by Jack Hood

One of the Canton Glass Company patterns I collect is Canton #10, also known as Stippled Primrose. I collect this pattern only in color, which makes it a doubly difficult pattern to find. This, for me, is part of the fun of collecting Therefore, I was very happy when I came.across the pieces I will describe at the fall Eastern National Antique Show & Sale in Harrisburg, PA.

My first find was four pieces of primrose in a color that differed from any that I had ever seen. (Fig 1 Relish dishes and plate to compare pattern and color) I didn't realize the difference in the color until I placed them alongside other pieces in my collection. The four pieces have a light cobalt blue tone, a color I had not seen any of the other Canton patterns, Iet alone in Primrose. The thought ran through my mind that this could be a product of some unscru-pulous dealer or collector who subjected these pieces to radiation to enhance their value by changing their color. This is a trick with which bottle collectors are familiar. Since I purchased the pieces from a dealer who enjoys an impeccable reputation, I didn't think this could be a remote possibility.
Another find in this lot was two oval dishes, one 7" long and the other 8" long. Neither of these is listed in any reference book I have for this pattern. I checked the distinguishing diagnostic points of the new relish dish with an amber one I purchased many years ago, and they are the same. The oval dishes also have the expected pattern configuration. I wasn't totally surprised to find this oval shape, because I have the same basic shape in another pattern of about the same period of time. However the color was unexpected.

My next find in examining my purchases led me in a different direction. This time it was a variation of the primrose pattern in both flower and rim on a 6" round flat sauce dish. The characteris-tics of the stylized primrose flower in the familiar pattern are ten pointed petals surrounding the center of the flower, the top five of which overlap the bottom five and have a rib in the center. On my new dish there are ten petals on the left flower surrounding the center and only nine petals on the right flower when viewed from outside. The flowers are also of an entirely different shape. They are narrow, uneven in length, and none are overlapping (Fig. 2). I discovered another interesting characteristic of this variant: the shape of the rim. On all the other dishes, including the master berry bowl, the footed and the flat round sauce dishes, the outside of the rim of the bowls has vertical groves with dots between each pair of groves. The bowl with the variant flower has the same groves and dots, but these are slanted to the left when viewed from the inside. (Fig. 3). The rest of the pattern including the color, is the same.

Ruth Webb Lee makes note of this variant, but doesn't describe the rim as being different, nor does she say anything other than "In the variant, the flower is made up of very fine clear petals that stand out in brilliant relief." There is no notation as to the different number of petals on each flower or the difference of the slant to the rim. To my knowledge, this is the first time the "Primrose Variant" has been pictured.

I hope, in the future, someone will find other pieces similar to those described above, so we can compare notes.

REFERENCE
Lee, Ruth Webb, Early American Pressed Glass, Lee Publications, Wellesley Hills, MA, p. 81.