New Northwood Art Glass Company
Harry Northwood’s company was one of the most successful glass manufacturing houses in the United States from the early 1880s through to 1925 when the Wheeling plant was forced to close. Since then, the auspicious name, Northwood, had only been used in the context of old, Classic Carnival—a company without a legacy. Until 1997 that is, when a Northwood family descendant, David McKinley revived the historic glassmaking name. David was an engineer by profession who had won awards for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings in Wheeling WV. He took on a very different restoration task altogether—the renaissance of the Northwood Art Glass company.
An overriding principle was that the integrity and collectability of the original Northwood Carnival Glass would not be affected. In designing their new glass, David McKinley gave particular consideration to the collectors of Northwood’s Classic Carnival Glass. The new glass, though reminiscent in many ways of the original Northwood product, is distinctive and marked with the new company’s logo—a script signed Northwood moulded on the base, as illustrated below.
Although there was an old Northwood script signature (seen most often on custard/ivory glass), it is very different from the new one, most noticeably because the final “d” of the old signature ended with a flourish that underlines the whole of the word Northwood. Some, but not all, old Classic Northwood glass was marked with an underlined N in a circle on the base.
Northwood’s Classic Carnival set its successors a hard legacy to follow, but twinned with the expertise and craftsmanship of the Fenton Art Glass Company and the Island Mould Company, the new pieces feature both colour and finish in distinctive combinations of very high quality.
An overriding principle was that the integrity and collectability of the original Northwood Carnival Glass would not be affected. In designing their new glass, David McKinley gave particular consideration to the collectors of Northwood’s Classic Carnival Glass. The new glass, though reminiscent in many ways of the original Northwood product, is distinctive and marked with the new company’s logo—a script signed Northwood moulded on the base, as illustrated below.
Although there was an old Northwood script signature (seen most often on custard/ivory glass), it is very different from the new one, most noticeably because the final “d” of the old signature ended with a flourish that underlines the whole of the word Northwood. Some, but not all, old Classic Northwood glass was marked with an underlined N in a circle on the base.
Northwood’s Classic Carnival set its successors a hard legacy to follow, but twinned with the expertise and craftsmanship of the Fenton Art Glass Company and the Island Mould Company, the new pieces feature both colour and finish in distinctive combinations of very high quality.
Grape & Cable vase, cobalt with satin backgound
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New Northwood script signature
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Dolphin Comport, lavender
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Grape and Cable vase, 1998
Designed by David McKinley, this is a contemporary interpretation of Northwood’s famous Grape and Cable pattern. The design was felt to be the best way to depict a new era and also honour the old at the same time.
Jon Saffell made the clay and plaster mock-up of the piece and the mould was produced from this by the Island Mould Company. The vases were pressed and iridized by Fenton.
The vase stands eight inches high and is a full five inches in diameter. It was produced in several colour combinations, finishes and top shapings, as shown by the catalogue pages below. The vase is produced in all Carnival finish, (totally iridized) as well as with the grapes and leaves picked out in striking iridescence against a satin (matte) background like the example shown above.
Dolphin Comport/Card Receiver, 1999
The old Northwood mould had been purchased by McKinley from L.G. Wright when that company closed. In late 1999 it was put into production in blue Carnival. It is six inches high and was also pressed and iridised by the Fenton.
Although the mould was originally used by Harry Northwood back in the early 1900s, it was never used back then for Carnival. All Carnival examples are from the new Northwood Company and are clearly marked as such. The example shown above in lavender Carnival is a “one-off” whimsy with the top shaped in like a rosebowl.
Shown below are two catalogue pages produced to advertise the 1998 Grape and Cable Series - they show clearly the range of colours, shapes and finishes.
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