Lavender Carnival - What it is … and What it isn’t

G&S Thistlewood April 2024
When it comes to colour names, the old saying used go something like … if you are buying it’s marigold (or amethyst, blue, green etc) but if you are selling it is pumpkin (or lavender, sapphire, emerald etc)!

Clearly there is a cachet (and a likely commensurate price hike) for the more unusual, sought-after colours.  But the situation is complicated by different perceptions and different understandings (or interpretations) of the colours. And then, of course, don’t underestimate the variations and alterations to the appearance of a piece, that can arise when using different cameras, different photo settings, different computer monitors or mobile/cell phones, and of course, photo editing software. The lighting conditions under which the glass is viewed can also dramatically change the way it looks. Lastly, don’t forget the effect of the iridescence, which can affect the appearance of the base glass colour very much indeed.

Having listed all the ways in which the perception and appearance of the base glass can be affected, one could be forgiven for wondering why we even try and name all the different Carnival base glass colours (60 or more, for old Classic Carnival). A further complication is that not only do people sometimes physically see (perceive) things differently, they also use different characteristics and terms to define a colour.

​Consensus may often not be possible. 
​​Lavender fields in Hampshire © G&S Thistlewood

Viewing Base Glass Colour
Before we take another step, let’s be sure that you are looking at the base glass properly – and that your perception is not being affected by the interference of iridescence. Hold the piece up to a strong white light (if you use sunlight, be careful not to look directly at the sun) and aim to view a part of the glass where there is no iridescence – typically a foot or handle, or the collar base (marie).

Classic Old Carnival
It’s important to note that we are only discussing the century old Classic Carnival, made from c. 1907 through to c. the early 1930s. In those very early years, there was no Quality Control. Glass batch ingredients would have been weighed out approximately. Indeed, the ingredients for the colourants would themselves, have likely been approximated and probably varied in several ways, and could even have contained impurities. Cullet (broken, waste glass added to the batch) might have had impurities too, that could have affected the glass colour. Maintaining constant, absolute, non-varying colours for the glass batch was surely impossible. And of course, it’s possible that the glass makers themselves wanted to play around a little with the ingredients, to achieve better results. All these reasons and more are why there are so many subtle variations.

LAVENDER: It’s all about the iridescence with lavender. The base glass colour may appear virtually identical to amethyst – a light pinkish, purple tone that can vary in intensity (the thickness of the glass can make a colour appear deeper and darker, as can the brightness of the white light under which you view it). But it’s the iridescence that determines if a piece is lavender or not.
​
You can’t mistake a true lavender Carnival piece as the iridescence will (usually) stop you in your tracks. There are usually highlights of turquoise and blue (and possibly gold) in the iridescence, but the predominant effect is a gorgeous lavender. It may have a slightly icy effect (though not “frosted” as we know it) or a textured feel. True lavender Carnival is rather hard to find.
​Lavender shades predominate in the iridescence on this lavender
Trout and Fly bowl by Millersburg above, and on the Northwood
​Fruits and Flowers handled bonbon below.
​The base glass colour of the Millersburg lavender Trout and Fly
is very similar to that of the base glass colour of the
​amethyst Fenton Peacock and Dahlia bowl shown later. 
A lavender ​Northwood ​Fruits and Flowers handled bonbon.
The base glass colour of the lavender Northwood
​Fruits and Flowers is very delicate.
Lavender, Horehound and Amethyst

​We have experienced the lavender v horehound dilemma personally, based on a beautiful Northwood Lattice and Poinsettia bowl that we acquired in the late 1980s. At the time, we believed it was lavender, until we subsequently acquired a couple of real lavender pieces! And then we saw the difference. ​

AMETHYST
This is a pinkish, purple (ish) base glass colour. It can vary from a very pale pinkish purple to a much deeper tone.

​The iridescence can vary greatly, often being bronzey or purplish, and sometimes even having light silvery tones. There’s a lot of amethyst Carnival.
​Amethyst base glass colour on a
​Fenton Peacock and Dahlia bowl

HOREHOUND
It’s all about the base glass with horehound. Northwood’s version of amber, sometimes called rootbeer, has a greyish brown effect to the actual base glass and is a very difficult color to capture in a photo. Also, (in our opinion) it is not consistent from piece to piece. Horehound can also appear amethyst, smoky, brown and anything in-between. As with so many Carnival pieces, the iridescence can vary and affect the perception of the colour. The light in which it is viewed alters the appearance too.
The horehound brownish base glass can be seen on the tiny marie and the bottom of the feet of our Poinsettia and Lattice bowl. It’s important to try and ignore the amethyst tones
​of the iridescence, which can alter one’s perception.

​​The face of the Northwood Poinsettia and Lattice bowl has a beautiful iridescence that can suggest other colours, yet it is actually horehound base glass.

​The Poinsettia & Lattice bowl we show here was acquired by us back in the 1980s, when we were new to collecting Carnival. We believed for quite some time in our early collecting years that it was lavender. However, we are sure now that it is horehound!