Blast from the Past - Cosmos Variant
The trail begins in 1985. The article below is from NetworK #28 (Winter, 2000) by kind permission of the article's authors John & Frances Hodgson.
NetworK was authored and issued by Glen & Stephen Thistlewood.
NetworK was authored and issued by Glen & Stephen Thistlewood.
Developments in 2001
John and Frances followed up their article in NetworK with a message to the daily mailing list of wwwcga, and showed pictures of the two variations of the pattern, writing:
At first look, both bowls are Cosmos Variant, but closer inspection leaves us with another carnival mystery .... the designs, though similar, do have some differences. The bowl most often seen is Cosmos Variant), with the Cosmos Mystery bowl for comparison. Readers of NetworK #28 will have read our article about the mystery bowl.
There has been much debate about who actually made these bowls, with Fenton as the first choice, although Dugan is now thought to be the most likely candidate. Now that there are two distinct versions, is it possible that both manufacturers had their own versions, and who made which? Or did Dugan experiment with the pattern before deciding which one to put into production? There are endless possibilities.
The Cosmos Mystery bowl does display many of the same characteristics as Dugan's Windflower bowl, strongly suggesting that it was made by them. In response to our article, we recently had confirmation that at least one other Cosmos Mystery bowl has been found in the UK. So far they are only known in marigold.
Glen added:
By sheer coincidence, whilst looking at back issues of "The Carnival Pump" (the newsletter of the International Carnival Glass Association), I spotted two black and white photos of exactly the two variations to the Cosmos Variant that John and Frances show. There was little information beyond a note that the two patterns were quite distinctly different. The caption to the photo read: "At first glance you might think these Cosmos Variant marigold bowls only differ in that one has a satin finish and the other a shiny finish. They actually come from different moulds, although the differences are slight. I don't recall two varieties of this pattern ever being noted before."
The date of the "Pump" that this was in was September 1985 and I didn't spot any follow-ups commenting on it at all. I believe the photo was taken at the ICGA Convention that year in Cedar Rapids.
If you were the one who wrote to the "Pump", or you can add any more information to this Cosmos Variant / Cosmos Mystery, please email us.
More Blasts from the past!
John and Frances followed up their article in NetworK with a message to the daily mailing list of wwwcga, and showed pictures of the two variations of the pattern, writing:
At first look, both bowls are Cosmos Variant, but closer inspection leaves us with another carnival mystery .... the designs, though similar, do have some differences. The bowl most often seen is Cosmos Variant), with the Cosmos Mystery bowl for comparison. Readers of NetworK #28 will have read our article about the mystery bowl.
There has been much debate about who actually made these bowls, with Fenton as the first choice, although Dugan is now thought to be the most likely candidate. Now that there are two distinct versions, is it possible that both manufacturers had their own versions, and who made which? Or did Dugan experiment with the pattern before deciding which one to put into production? There are endless possibilities.
The Cosmos Mystery bowl does display many of the same characteristics as Dugan's Windflower bowl, strongly suggesting that it was made by them. In response to our article, we recently had confirmation that at least one other Cosmos Mystery bowl has been found in the UK. So far they are only known in marigold.
Glen added:
By sheer coincidence, whilst looking at back issues of "The Carnival Pump" (the newsletter of the International Carnival Glass Association), I spotted two black and white photos of exactly the two variations to the Cosmos Variant that John and Frances show. There was little information beyond a note that the two patterns were quite distinctly different. The caption to the photo read: "At first glance you might think these Cosmos Variant marigold bowls only differ in that one has a satin finish and the other a shiny finish. They actually come from different moulds, although the differences are slight. I don't recall two varieties of this pattern ever being noted before."
The date of the "Pump" that this was in was September 1985 and I didn't spot any follow-ups commenting on it at all. I believe the photo was taken at the ICGA Convention that year in Cedar Rapids.
If you were the one who wrote to the "Pump", or you can add any more information to this Cosmos Variant / Cosmos Mystery, please email us.
More Blasts from the past!