I have posted pieces in the King’s Crown pattern in the past. I have always, or generally, thought of the pieces as having been produced by Indiana Glass. However I knew that a number of companies made this pattern with slight variations.
The variations include the shape; the number of seams, the number of thumbprints and of course the colours.
As far as I can figure, these pieces were made under the names of U.S. Glass/Tiffin, L.G. Wright, Lancaster and Indiana. There are likely other companies.
I came across a great Facebook site – Kings Crown “Thumbprint” Pattern Glass. There is a wealth of information here including a downloadable reference guide.
From this guide, and an accompanying website – Kings Crown Glass (make sure to check it out) – I have tentatively identified the glass in the first photo on the left as having been made by US Glass. The stem on the right is shown very clearly in the reference guide as unidentified.
At first glance the stems look alike but the first has 9 thumbprints and three seams in the base. The second has 8 thumbprints and 4 seams. The thumbprints are a different shape, as are the glasses.
If anyone has more or more correct information I would be happy to receive it.
We ran across that second “cordial” (guessing that is what someone once called it) as well. ( http://kingscrownglass.com/ManufacturerCatalog/3282AF95/EA026E59/ ) I had three of them, and was surprised at how poor the craftsmanship on them were. The row of teeth on the stem bottom look nothing like the normal Kings Crown teeth & more like a tool was used to just cut indentations on the master mould as some form of touch-up, which wasn’t done on the upper stem row of teeth which are so muted as to practically be invisible. I often wondered on both the upper and lower moulds if they had attempted to create a negative from an existing production glass instead of creating a crisp new mould. This is one of the only manufacturers I’ve seen that used a 4 part mould design for the glass (for this pattern family, Adams, US Glass , & LG Wright used 3 part, Indiana Glass & Colony used 2 part). The lower quality of the moulds, the squaring of the thumbprints, and the seemingly inexperienced assembly on the stem (very rough at the seams) leads me to believe that this was an unauthorized “knock-off” – of course, who knows from when! That’s my guess at least.
I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. I don’t have these glasses in front of me (they are packed away in the garage), so I can’t compare them to your description. I do know that the upper stem row of teeth are also quite muted. I don’t recall that the seams are rough though. Thank you very much for your information – your guide and website are super!