I went to an auction at McGregors recently and picked up a few lots. I had seen this relish dish a number of times and always thought “Meh!” But the silver overlay caught my eye. I like oak trees and as a kid thought that finding an acorn was something to be celebrated. Mostly maples near my childhood home.
I couldn’t figure out who had made it so I turned to the Facebook group – Vintage Glass Identification for help. This is a great group of folks and I very often get an ID when I am stumped. I had the answer very quickly.
Collectors Weekly had a little bit of information on this line in the article Vintage Imperial Glass.
“Around the same time as the introduction of Candlewick, Imperial began producing a line that would become almost as successful—Cape Cod. Newton secured a deal with Quaker Oats to distribute No. 160 in the Cape Cod line as giveaway items— many of these pieces are highly desirable today.”
There appears to have been quite a number of items produced in the line and you can find some of the patents in the gallery of the Elegant and Everyday Glass Forum. Looks like the pieces were produced in the 1930s-1950s.
I think that the silver overlay could be the work of Lotus Glass. This 2007 article by Barbara Wyrick in the references the name “Acorn and Oak Leaf” pattern by Lotus. I can’t seem to find online images so I have purchased the book Lotus: Depression Glass And Far Beyond by Dean Six to see if I can verify the pattern. The book hasn’t yet arrived but I am looking forward to seeing the pretty patterns by Lotus. I have a number of pieces with overlay that I haven’t been able to attribute and maybe this reference guide will help.
Sometimes glass identification is just a case of serendipity. I picked up these two tumblers awhile back and had no luck identifying them. I do not have alot of Depression glass resources, but turned to Warman and couldn’t find the pattern.