I am sitting in my little office on the second floor of our house.  I can see snow on the roofs out the window.  The window is freezing up and the wind is howling.  It is very cold outside.  I am happy to be inside with my little hobby.  I doubt that I will venture out today.

Last weekend however, we made a trip to Around the Block.  What a great store!!!!  I only picked up a couple pieces and this was one.  The rich dark topaz/amber caught my eye, as did the pretty shape and the dainty etch.

There is some confusion around its identification.  I found a sample of the etch fairly easily – Central Glass’ etch #432 Hester.  I only have one reference book – Tim Schmidt’s Central Glass Works: the Depression era and I couldn’t find the blank.  I posted a query on The Elegant and Everyday Glass Forum asking for a line number. Someone suggested that this piece was a mayonnaise dish and was instead made by the Imperial Glass Company – Etch DE 432 – Love Bird.   The line numbers are so close!

From Schmidt’s book he quotes an  article in the Crockery and Glass Journal, March 1940:

“The equipment of the Central Glass Works, Wheeling W. Va., was acquired by the Imperials Glass Corp., who will transfer most of it to Bellaire, Ohio, where the plant is situated.”

Central ceased operations in 1939.  It is not inconceivable that this piece was produced by Imperial if it assumed Central’s molds and etching plates.

I hope someone who knows more than me (almost everyone) will provide some information.  In the mean time, this is a very pretty piece.