Caprice Reproductions - Summit Art Glass/Fenton by Mark Rossman
One of the most coveted patterns of Cambridge Glassware of
Cambridge, Ohio is the Caprice pattern of glass dishes. Made from the early
thirties up to (and after) the closing of Cambridge in 1958, Caprice is a truly
beautiful pattern, reminiscent of ocean waves (henceforth the name Caprice).
Made in predominantly crystal and a light moonlight blue color, Caprice can also
be found
in pink, a light pistachio green (too bad they didn't make more of that), mocha,
gold krystol, cobalt blue and with the Alpine treatment, which is acid etching a
section of the main body to give a frosty look to the color of glass the piece
was cast in.
Imperial Glass bought up Cambridge after it's closing, and proceeded to
have the molds in it's possession until 1983, when many of the greatest molds in
the world: Cambridge, Heisey, and many Imperial were sold off at auction (and
some privately) to the highest bidders. Fortunate were the Fenton glass company
(for vases), the National Cambridge Collectors club (various Cambridge molds)
and Summit Art Glass, the last getting some of the best Caprice molds for
everyday service ware.
Summit Art Glass located in Ravenna, Ohio is a nice, private glass company
that contains some of the best Cambridge molds (among other companies many
original molds). In 1988 I had the rare opportunity to spend 5 hours at Summit
with my Mom mostly talking with JoAnn Vogelsong while picking out some
reproduction Caprice. JoAnn and her husband Russell are the owners of Summit
Art Glass Company (hereafter referred to as Summit or SAG), or at least were in
1988. JoAnn and I talked about the molds, along with the some of the problems
they encountered bringing Caprice back on the market. Back then a sordid few
people were really griping about Summit bringing back some of the Caprice
pieces, and were causing the Vogelsong's some anguish.
They were making their Caprice in Cobalt and a darker lighter blue than the
original Moonlight of Cambridge, which they called
Sky Blue. Russ also was having a dot put into the mold to distinguish new from
old, which gripers complained could be easily ground off. JoAnn said to teach a
lesson they ran a lighter color of blue to almost match the old Moonlight, which
they called
Morning Glory Blue. Good Enough, the gripers retreated and Summit returned to
making Sky Blue. The main piece which everyone was afraid of them reproducing
was the Caprice Dinner Plate, as in 1988 it was around $115.00 to get on the
secondary market in original Moonlight. To date, I don't believe I've ever
heard or seen of a reproduction dinner plate from Summit. Summit however has
market some of the items listed below, even though they have more molds in their
possession than what I list:
All molded, not blown:
Stick style Butterdish - very important - Cambridge didn't
make this in Moonlight - the ones showing on EBAY
are Summit butters, many done in the 1980's
Tall straight Ice tea tumbler
Medium height water tumbler
Sugar Bowl
Tall footed sherbet
3 section cloverleaf relish
3 section inline relish
Footed cake plate
Salts dip (believe it's Summit, although question
if it's another company)
2 section salad dressing (although there is not
center handle, that was another mold SAG did not get)
Footed Water Goblet
Footed Juice Goblet
3 lite inline candleholder
Small bowls
I was able to get most of the pieces in Sky Blue, with just a
few samples of the above in that Morning Glory Blue that
SAG cast just to show what they could do. The one thing that is unfortunate was
that in the 1980's and 1990's (I don't know
about currently), SAG did not have the greatest fire polisher going (if one at
all). Most all my Sky Blue ware leaches a
greasy film when the glass sits awhile. I can give a tumbler a bleach and water
and have it squeaky clean and set it
on a shelf yet a month later when I touch the piece it's got a greasy sort of
feel. Sky Blue and cobalt also seem to have a
number of bubbles, "sand pits" and striations within the glass, so it's quite
easy to tell from original Caprice (which has a great clarity, very few bubbles
ever, and an occasional striation in the pattern). A vaseline color has also
been introduced . Be very careful on EBAY, people listing SAG Caprice usually
cover that it's new by just saying "from original Cambridge mold" or "original
Cambridge Pattern Caprice" which is true, but not in the sense that the original
Cambridge Glass Company MADE THAT PIECE you are bidding on. My visit to SUMMIT
was one of the greatest times I had in 1988, when I went touring the existing
glass companies/glass museums in the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia area
(the tri-state hub of some of the greatest depression and elegant glass
companies EVER in the USA).
Fenton Art Glass Company has been making a number of various style vases of
Caprice, in colors never done before (like cranberry, vaseline, etc). Fenton
uses a blown vase, so it is thinner glass than Summit's molded type items, and
Fenton can
also crimp the edges of the vases for effect too.
I want to Thank JoAnn Vogelsong for that great day back in 1988, her time
and patience and sweet manners were so appreciated at that time, and still after
almost 18 years. On a sad note though, on another web site that sells Summit
Glass
I noticed that they mentioned the passing of Russ Vogelsong back in late 2005. I
offer my condolences to the Vogelsong family.
Mark Rossman in NJ