Glen & Stephen Thistlewood
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Imperial Carnival "Bright Iridescent" Shades

The catalogue pages shown here are all courtesy and Copyright of Jon D. Bartell.

Shown below are colour pages from Imperial's Catalog 104-F, "Pressed Glassware for Illumination", dated around 1918.

​The shades on these four catalogue pages, 34-F to 37-F are all listed as "pressed electric and gas shades in two bright, iridescent colors". As Imperial described them: "the shades illustrated ... are furnished in these two brilliant colors ["Rubigold" and "Greengold]". Imperial's descriptions of these colours is shown at the bottom of this page. 
Iridescent Shades
The use of the notation " ½ " in the catalogue pattern numbers on pages 34-F and 35-F is fascinating. It referred to the way the circular holes at the top of 
the shades was finished off to remove any roughness from the moulding. It was explained elsewhere in the catalogue, in this way - see right:

​A reamer is a precision rotary cutting tool designed to enlarge the size of a previously formed hole by a small amount but with a high degree of accuracy to leave smooth sides. The use of a file however  (presumably by hand) to remove any surplus glass, would have left a rougher finish. It's fascinating the Imperial referred to these shades as being a "cheap" product!
Reamed or filed
Imperial Catalog 104-F
Above: the patterns shown on the page are:
Starlyte - #199½ (top row)
La Rochelle (aka #474 / Four Seventy Four) - #474½ (middle row). Note - this is NOT the Mayflower pattern.
August Flower - #486½ (bottom row)
​
Imperial Catalog 104-F
Above: the patterns shown on the page are:
Fine Crosshatch - #430½ (top row)
Fine Ribbed - #680 / #681 and #461 (middle and bottom rows)
​
Imperial Catalog 104-F
Above: the patterns shown on the page are:
Block and Daisy - #663, #660 and #661 (top row). Helen Greguire called this pattern “Imperial Daisy”.
Buzz Saw - #566, #567 and #581 (bottom row)

Imperial Catalog 104-F
Above: the patterns shown on the page are:
Stippled Rib (also called Stippled with Clear Pillars) - #657 and #658 (top left and centre)
Optic Flute with Frosted Grapes (OMN) - #669 (top right)
Diamond Block also known as Mount Vernon (OMN) described as a “prism pattern” - #699 (bottom row, left)
Imperial #575 (fluted pattern, bottom row, centre)
Imperial Grape - #473 (bottom row, right)

Here is the way Imperial described these two iridescent colours.
Imperial Catalog 104-F
Imperial's Catalog 104-F also included more Carnival Glass shades - "Glassware for Illumination" shades and more "NUART" shades (pressed, decorated and hand-cut). The links to these pages are shown below.

​​Want to see more about Imperial's Carnival Glass Shades, or Imperial's Carnival Glass generally?

Click on any of the images below:​​
Nuart Lampshades
Imperial Carnival "Glass for Lighting"
Imperial Nuart Shades
"NUART" shades: pressed, decorated, and hand-cut
Imperial Lampshade Gallery
Imperial Carnival Glass Lampshade Gallery
Cox and Lafferty
Cox and Lafferty - Five and Ten Cent Wonders
Imperial Carnival Glass
Imperial: Classic and Contemporary Carnival
Imperial Carnival Glass Gallery
Imperial Carnival Glass Gallery
Imperial Carnival Tumblers
Imperial Carnival Glass Tumblers
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