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Iridescence: The Color on Top Continued
Electric
Electric Iridescence was made by all of the Big Five manufacturers. Northwood probably leading the pack, primarily due to the massive amounts of glass they produced. There are also many examples of electric iridescence from Dugan, Imperial and Fenton. Millersburg made a modest amount of Carnival with electric iridescence and these are all highly prized. The bottom line is that Electric is scarce and is many collectors' favorite.
 
Fig. 10 - Electric Blue Northwood Grape Leaves Ruffled Bowl. This is on Amethyst Base Glass.
Fig. 11 - Electric Blue Dugan Holly & Berry Nappy. This is on Purple Base Glass.
The term "Electric" at first referred to "Electric Blue" only, but has gradually been applied - rightfully so in my opinion - to other colors including Green and purple and Marigold. You should remember that the term "Electric Blue" or "Electric Green" refers to the color of the iridescence regardless of the base glass color underneath. Many of the best Electric Blue pieces are on Amethyst or Purple Glass.
Electric needs a good strong back color to get the mirror-like finish,
so it won’t be found on Pastel base glass pieces - well, hardly ever. Electric iridescence is brilliant, mirror-like, and shiny metallic. All of these attributes must be present for a piece to be considered Electric. It will grab your attention from across the room and it stands out from all other colors around it. There is never any doubt about iridescence being electric, ‘cause if there’s doubt it isn’t electric, it’s that simple! Pieces can be one electric color or can be a combination of electric colors - the pieces with a single color will usually be considered more valuable by collectors. There is also the possibility of "Electric Highlights." This term should be reserved for iridescence which has the distinct brilliant, mirror-like, shiny metallic finish on portions, but not all, of a piece.
Fig. 11B - Electric Blue Peacocks Stippled Plate - courtesy Paul & Terri Stauffer. This is on Blue Base Glass. Note in the closeup that there is a stretch effect on the glass. Also, of importance is the stippling which in many cases will "cloud" the glass surface so you don't get a solid flash of mirror like on unstippled pieces - instead the many different angles from the stippling creat a "pebbled" shine which causes the piece to catch your eye from across the room.Some pieces, which aren't fully electric, will have some electricity about them. Since having "Electric" associated with a piece is highly desirable, we now see items listed with "Electric Highlights." To qualify, a piece should have the same distinct brilliant mirror-like finish showing on a good percentage of the surface.
Although Electric Blue was the original Electric color. As we mentioned
earlier, other colors deserve this name. When the finish is electric and another
color predominates, the main overall color should be associated with the term
"Electric" to have a consistent understanding of the true nature of the piece.
When all colors are fairly evenly found on an electric piece, we should call it
"Electric Multicolor!" Regardless a piece should have the same distinct
brilliant mirror-like metallic finish covering most of the surface to call it
Electric.
Another possibility is a combination of finishes. In particular, Millersburg made pieces which were Electric in the center with Satin around the edge. When this occurs, it would be best if we all called these pieces - Electric center with Satin Edge!
  
Fig. 12 - Northwood Acorn Burrs Tumbler with Electric Blue Highlights.
Fig. 13 - Super Electric Multicolor Iridescence! This is the rare Dugan Heavy Grape pattern. The base glass is purple and the iridescence really jumps out at you - especially the brilliant lime green.
Fig. 14 - Example of Electric & Satin iridescence combination on a Millersburg Trout & Fly in Green. Note that the center is bright and shiny and the edge is smooth and satiny.
At this point, I would like to introduce additional terms for consideration to help us have a common frame of reference. These new terms are: Dry and Electric Pastel. In addition, this page covers two frequently found iridescence effects - Pumpkin and Stretch.
Dry
Dry iridescence would be a satin iridescence which lacks the sparkle and glow. In many cases these "Dry" pieces have lots of heavy iridescence, only they don’t have the sparkle to give it the light and life we strive for. We all know pieces which have this appearance. For the most part they aren’t desirable, but we still need an accurate descriptive term.
Fig. 15 - Example of Dry Iridescence. Heavy Marigold applied to Dugan’s Holly & Berry on this Peach Opal piece actually results in a "Dry" look.
Electric Pastel
My final proposed term for iridescence is a difficult and probably inadequate one. It is "Electric Pastel" and refers to some uncommon but highly desirable pastel pieces. I believe where this effect comes from is in applying an "Electric" treatment to a Pastel base colored piece instead of a normal dark piece. In other words, an Ice Blue, or Ice Green, etc., with an electric finish.
Since electric effects only appear because the base glass is dark, what happens when you use the same surface finish on Pastel? The answer is a super bright watercolor effect. The light color of the glass doesn’t allow for the finish to give a mirror-like metallic effect usually associated with electric colors, but the iridescence shows beautifully when the piece is against a dark background with great colors of transparent Pinks and Blues and Yellows. Electric pieces are very scarce. Pastels were also produced in very limited numbers. Getting both the strong electric finish and Pastel base glass together was even less common.
Fig. 16 - This Grape & Cable low ruffled bowl is an example of this finish. The base glass is clear and with the "Electric Pastel" finish we have a super Pastel Marigold piece.
Pumpkin
Question: What is Pumpkin?
Answer: A term coined recently to describe a deep Marigold. To qualify for the term, a piece should have good deep marigold with almost a red hue present. The best "pumpkin" pieces will have good shine and lots of other colors - green being frequently present. If there are any weak marigold areas on a piece, it shouldn’t claim to be pumpkin!
Fig. 17 - A great example of Pumpkin Marigold on a Northwood Peacock & Urn Master Ice Cream bowl.
Stretch
Question: What is Stretch?
Answer: An effect on the surface of Carnival Glass. It can be present on Electric Pieces and also Satin and Pastels. Any color, including white, base glass can have the stretch effect. The appearance of stretch is like rivulets of iridescence which have sides to cast shadows or to catch the light and reflect it back at different angles. Stretch effect is highly regarded by most collectors. Frequently stretch effect has super color - possibly due to the thicker iridescence that creates the rivulets. The un-evenness of the surface on stretch pieces also results in a surface that is frequently rough to the touch. Stretch effect adds a great sparkle to the pieces it touches. And finally, the color Celeste Blue requires that the iridescence have a stretch finish.Fig. 18 - An close up Stretch Effect on a Dugan Heavy Grape Ruffled Bowl. The full piece can be seen in the section
on Electric Iridescence. Another close-up of stretch is seen there also.
This presentation is my attempt to assist collectors,
particularly new collectors, to accurately identify qualities of
Carnival Glass finish. On some computers the monitor may not
show the features and differences accurately. If you can't tell
differences from the photos, please refer to the descriptive
words used to identify the various iridescence finishes. Also,
many good books will greatly assist in identifying these
finishes. I appreciate any further comments and assistance in
correcting and adding to the above information.
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