Reopening a Cold Case: The Paternity of Rosalind V.
by Stan Hoegerman
Our interest in the Rosalind Variant compote began when we found the one shown below at a Virginia Beach antique mall. It was labelled as Peacock Tail and reasonable priced as such. We were happy to give that baby a new home.
We had never even seen one before and initially had no idea of what it was or who made it. The only thing we were sure of is that it wasn’t Fenton’s Peacock Tail. So the speculation began ...
All major Carnival Glass manufacturers other than Northwood made compotes with interiors featuring radiating arcs. In addition to Fenton’s Peacock Tail, there’s Millersburg’s Rosalind and Peacock Tail Variant and Imperial’s Scroll Embossed. Dugan’s Maple Leaf berry sets, which essentially are composed of a large compote and several smaller ones, frequently have a Peacock Tail interior. Wouldn’t Harry have conceived his own version of a compote with a radiating arcs pattern? Is there any physical evidence to support such speculation? Well yes but, initially, we did not find it convincing. Our compote has several dark specks of undissolved pigment. That’s common with green Northwood. Also, the iridescence is pastel; Northwood made much of that. |
What later convinced us that the Rosalind Variant was made by Northwood is that the exterior is identical to the one seen on some of Northwood’s Rainbow compotes! For both, each side of the hexagonal stem terminates in a semicircle on the underside of the compote’s bowl. In addition, size, weight, and number of mould seams match.
The two pictures above show the exterior of the Rosalind Variant compote (left) and Northwood's Rainbow comport on the right. *
In both items, each side of the hexagonal stem terminates in a semicircle on the compote’s bowl.
In both items, each side of the hexagonal stem terminates in a semicircle on the compote’s bowl.
We believe that Harry Northwood jumped on the Peacock Tail-ish compote bandwagon by cutting a design into the Rainbow plunger. He then used the reworked plunger with what had been the plain Rainbow mould.
Searching the literature, were surprised to see that David Doty mentions that Millersburg and Fenton have been considered responsible for the Rosalind Variant. Turning to the Fry’s Carnival Glass 101 site, we read “Listing this… among Millersburg compotes may be intolerable for some. However, in deference to our longtime… colleague, who performed EXTENSIVE research into the matter over many years… the eminent Robert Gallo became emphatic in his conclusion that indeed this is a product of Millersburg passion…. [W]e feel convinced that Bob Gallo’s efforts should be recognized here and now.”
That momentarily set us back on our haunches! Extensive research over many years should trump a few weeks of speculation. But does it? Do you recall what the arguments and the evidence were back then? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Unless someone can come forward to exonerate Northwood or implicate another suspect, we should conclude that Rosalind Variant was Harry’s baby.
* Note: Northwood's Rainbow comport is found with both a plain exterior (as shown here) and a Basketweave exterior.
Searching the literature, were surprised to see that David Doty mentions that Millersburg and Fenton have been considered responsible for the Rosalind Variant. Turning to the Fry’s Carnival Glass 101 site, we read “Listing this… among Millersburg compotes may be intolerable for some. However, in deference to our longtime… colleague, who performed EXTENSIVE research into the matter over many years… the eminent Robert Gallo became emphatic in his conclusion that indeed this is a product of Millersburg passion…. [W]e feel convinced that Bob Gallo’s efforts should be recognized here and now.”
That momentarily set us back on our haunches! Extensive research over many years should trump a few weeks of speculation. But does it? Do you recall what the arguments and the evidence were back then? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Unless someone can come forward to exonerate Northwood or implicate another suspect, we should conclude that Rosalind Variant was Harry’s baby.
* Note: Northwood's Rainbow comport is found with both a plain exterior (as shown here) and a Basketweave exterior.