Glen & Stephen Thistlewood
Carnival Glass Worldwide
  • Home
  • Patterns, Colours, Shapes
  • Carnival Gallery
  • Books, e-books

Reub Levy – The King of China ​- Part Two

​
Reub Levy – the King of China – didn’t just sell glass from the USA, he also advertised and sold some rare and amazing pieces of European and Australian glass too.

​Here we share with you some extracts from Levy’s ads that featured these items. Let’s start with an unexpected delight – the very first newspaper ad we have seen for a rather hard-to-find Crown Crystal pattern known as Pin Ups.
Reub Levy
Pin Ups – Crown Crystal, Australia

Reub Levy had 60 dozen of them! (That means 720 if you’re not familiar with a “dozen”).

See how these bowls were described as being in 
Sunkist glass, which was one of Levy’s promotional terms for marigold Carnival. In fact Crown Crystal described their Carnival as “Iridescent Ware” (which was probably marigold) and “De Lustre Ware” (which was probably their purple Carnival) – and later collectors referred to these respectively as “marigold” and “dark”. But here we have Reub Levy using his own term – Sunkist – and adding a phrase we are not familiar with “a bargain of the first water”.

It's interesting to see "No Mail Orders" at the foot of the ad - clearly Reub wanted to use the specially priced offer to entice buyers into the store, where he hoped they would buy more goodies!
Pinups bowl
Pin Ups bowl, marigold. Courtesy of Brendan Morant
Reub Levy advert
1927 Reub Levy ad for a Pin Ups bowl
​​

​It’s a splendid ad for a delightful piece of Carnival – the pattern is generally referred to as Pin Ups today, but the name Hatpins may also be used.

Known in marigold and “dark” (purple) the Pin Ups bowls can be found in 7.5 inch and 9 to 10 inch bowls.

There is also a rare diminutive bowl (around 3 inches). Pin Ups can be tightly ruffled or simply scalloped, and the edge may be cupped in a little or flared out.
Pinups bowl
Pinups bowl
                                                              Above: a stunning 9 inch marigold Pin Ups bowl, shown courtesy and copyright Brendan Morant

European Glass
​

Not all Levy’s offerings were specified as being made in iridescent (Sunkist, etc) Carnival, but as the following patterns (and shapes) are all known in Carnival, it’s entirely possible that Reub was selling them in iridescent glass too.
​
​​Tartan epergne – Brockwitz, Germany

Described in Levy’s ad as being a “Handsome, useful ornament, standing 15 inches high”, this magnificent item was sold for 2/11d in 1914 (the price went up by a third the following year). No mention is made of the item being sold in iridescent glass, but we know that the Tartan epergne has indeed been found in Australia in marigold, so it seems likely that Carnival versions were indeed imported into Australia from Brockwitz in Germany.
Reub Levy ad
Reub Levy ad, 1914
Brockwitz catalogue
Brockwitz catalogue, 1915
Picture
Tartan epergne, marigold.
Above left: a 1914 ad from “The King of China” that featured a Brockwitz Tartan epergne.
Centre: extract from Brockwitz’ 1915 catalogue showing the Tartan epergne. Brockwitz called this pattern Kopenhagen.
Right: a magnificent marigold Tartan epergne, shown here courtesy of Michael O’Brien.

Cane Panels – Rindskopf, Czechoslovakia

“Here’s a snap”! Reub Levy offers a Rindskopf Cane Panels (also known as Panelled Cane) bowl. The bowl shape is rare in Carnival and is only known in marigold. In fact the first reported bowl was written about in our NetworK ezine #6, in 2015 (thanks to Janet and Graham Dickson).

W​e don’t know if this was offered by Levy in iridescent glass, but it’s entirely possible.
Reub Levy ad
Reub Levy ad 1923 showing a Cane Panels bowl
Rindskopf catalogue
Cane Panels in the 1915 Rindskopf catalogue
Cane Panels
Cane Panels bowl, marigold. Courtesy Janet & Graham Dickson
Read more about Cane Panels in our Collectors Facts.

Diamond Ovals – Rindskopf, Czechoslovakia

This is a familiar pattern that was first illustrated in Rindskopf’s catalogues in 1915. On the right we have a 1928 ad from Reub Levy featuring a bowl in this pattern as a “Special Draw Line”.

​Although this wasn’t offered in Carnival, it’s still interesting to see it and to recognise that it was imported into Australia from Czechoslovakia.

On the right: A 1928 ad from “The King of China” features a Rindskopf Diamond Ovals bowl.

Below, left: extract from Rindskopf’s catalogue, showing the pattern collectors now call Diamond Ovals.

Below, right: a splendid marigold Diamond Ovals bowl shown courtesy Michael O’Brien​
Picture
Reub Levy ad
Reub Levy ad 1928
 ​

​Back to The King of China Part One
Copyright © 2025 by G&S Thistlewood and the individual authors and contributors where named. Protected under all applicable international laws and all rights are reserved. No image, text, or any part thereof may be copied, shared or transmitted to others without permission from the Copyright holders. Information herein may not be posted or made available, in whole or in part, on any website, social media site, FTP site, electronic bulletin board, newsgroup, or their equivalent.