Odell Peacock Tail

The Story Behind The Glass: Arthur F Odell / Peacock Tail

Left: the Peacock Tail interior of this Fenton Advertising Piece. On the right is the underside of the base
which reads: ARTHUR F ODELL, QUINCY JEWLER. The piece is only known in green Carnival. Pictures courtesy Seeck Auctions.

As well as a realistic depiction of the peacock itself, the peacock feather was also used as a motif on Carnival Glass patterns; the feathers, the “eye” and the sweep of the tail were incorporated into various stylised forms and used in pattern design.

A well-known example of the use of a stylised peacock feather is Fenton’s Peacock Tail pattern. However, the example shown on the left above, also conceals a story on the underside of the base, for this is another Advertising Piece: Arthur F Odell, Quincy Jewler is moulded on the marie. These promos are wonderfully immortalised in glass, and present a fascinating glimpse into the past …

At first glance "jewler" could be seen as a mistake, and that it should have been "jeweler" - but jewler was an accepted version of the spelling. Also note that the spelling of "Odell", which is sometimes wrongly quoted as "O'Dell".

What's the Odell story?

Peacock Tail was a relatively early Fenton Carnival Glass pattern. On the right, we see it appearing in this Butler Brothers wholesale catalogue - the 1910 "Santa Claus Edition". It was shown as part of a Fenton assortment of "Royal Iridescent Novelty Glassware" where it was described as one of the "New embossed designs".

The hat shape was clearly popular, as there are four shown. Peacock Tail (top row, left and right) and Pepper Plant (top row, centre and bottom row, right).

Butler Brothers wholesale ad, 1910

Note that "hat shape" is a term collectors use today, but it was not a term that appeared in the original ad. It's also worth noting that the hats that look like Fenton's Holly pattern are in fact Pepper Plant. Holly has a circular base, whilst Pepper Plant has the 6-sided, hexagonal base shown in the ad.

The Odell Advertising Piece would have been very easy for Fenton to make. All they needed to do was to make a new base plate for their Peacock Tail mould. The advertising words were cut into the base plate, so they appear raised up (cameo) from the surface of the glass itself. The skill would have been to make sure that the letters were cut in such a way that they read correctly when the glass was removed from the mould!

It was so easy in fact, that Fenton used the same technique for other Advertising Pieces - the same Peacock Tail hat shape, with a different base plate showing different advertising text.

Here is another Advertising Piece that used the Peacock Tail hat. This one is for the GENERAL FURNITURE CO. and importantly, it is dated for us - 1910.

General Furniture Co. Courtesy of Seeck Auctions

Odell's store in 1908 from "Quincy Past and Present".

The date of the Butler Brothers / Fenton ad and the General Furnture Co. piece tie in quite well, in that it was in the early 1900s that Arthur F Odell established the Odell Jewellers at 118 North 5th Street, Quincy, IL.

Above is a picture of the interior of Odell's store in 1908 - showing that it was a large establishment.

Shown below (left) is a photograph of North Street, Quincy. Photo courtesy of the Quincy Public Library, and thanks to Mike Brown for sending it to us. Odell's store is to the left of the picture - the one with a large clock on the outside.

To quote the Ansonia Street Clock Project (Quincy Public Library): "Early automobiles can now be seen on the streets of Quincy!”

On the right is an image of Odell’s in 1926. It was one of four retail stores selected as showcase stores in a book about the town “Quincy, Illinois: In the Heart of the Great Valley”.

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