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Colors - What about All those Off Beat Shades?
wwcga member, Jeff, asked us to consider all the
off-beat colors like Powder Blue Opalescent & Sapphire Opalescent (as
opposed to Aqua Opalescent) etc., and his point was: are there really
such colors "or has our desire to 'categorize' or 'identify' colors
begun to stretch into the far reaches? (And when did this "trending"
start to occur in our field of interest?)" Jeff further posed the
question as to whether such fine distinctions in color were ever
intentional on the manufacturer's behalf - or is it really down to us,
the collectors, and our desire or "current ability/choice to so identify
them?"
 
An example of a valid yet offbeat color: Persian Blue. Glen Thistlewood adds:
My personal view is that the many variations and subtle distinctions in
color were caused by two things. First, a lack of quality control in the
factory. In the early 1900s things were very different on the factory
floor - a little bit of this and a little bit of that, was surely the
way that many colors came about. There would not have been the careful
measurement, control and standardization that we see today. Second, I
believe that a certain amount of experimentation was undoubtedly carried
out - and that this, too, resulted in some of the rare colors we find
from time to time. And remember that some of the raw materials that were
used back then could not be used today. In Scandinavia, Carnival Glass
went by the name "Poison Glass" - in fact some Finnish people still
refer to it as that! The name certainly indicates the dangerous nature
of some of the materials that were once used in manufacture.
An example of a valid yet offbeat color: Amber. |
When Marion Hartung and Rose Presznick were
researching and writing back in the 1960s and early 1970s, there were
only a few colors in the collectors' classification. From the 1970s more
people began to collect, clubs arose and expanded, and more people began
to write about Carnival. Prices went up accordingly. The late Don Moore,
writing in the "Pump" in 1986 in a feature called "Off Beat Colors" said
"One of the major intrigues of Carnival is the wide range of colors in
which it can be found".There's the key. It's intriguing, it adds to the
fascination, the thrill of the hunt to find something different. Don
went on in the article to define a further group of "off beat
colors...that are seldom seen and less well known" - these included,
iridized milk glass and moonstone, lime green opal and reverse amberina.
That article was written nearly 20 years ago - we've added more nuances
of color into our sophisticated vocabulary since then.
An example of a valid yet offbeat color: Celeste Blue. |
So, do these subtle variations of shade actually
exist? Well, in my opinion, what we actually see is by no means
standardized. People see colors differently. Some people can perceive
greater subtlety, and a wider variation, of shade and color than other
people can. A color that I perceive as turquoise, is the same color that
another person calls green. Are we both right?One person's aqua opal may well be another
person's sapphire opal (I've seen a group of experienced collectors
study the same item and come up with three different names for its
color). Quite frankly, such judgments frequently are not "black and
white"(!).
It’s interesting to read this quote from the late
Don Moore ...........
"Just remember that a discussion of colors is always controversial. One
color often shades into another and where we draw the line is usually in
the eyes of the beholder. If it was an exact science, what would we
collectors talk about, write about and argue about?"..........
Back row, left to
right: Dragon & Lotus ruffled bowl in aqua opal,
Dragon & Lotus ruffled
bowl in vaseline opal with a pastel iridescence.
Front row, left
to right: Peacock & Grape ruffled bowl in peach opal,
Peacock & Grape
ruffled bowl in vaseline opal with a rich
butterscotch iridescence.
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