Has it ever happened to you? A "gut feeling" about something - a sort of "bee in your bonnet" that you simply can't shake off. Well, I've had a "bee in my bonnet" for a number of years now about the Drapery Variant pattern. Here's what my issue was . . . I didn't think that it was made by Riihimaki. Yes, yes, I know that a tumbler is shown in the Riihimaki catalog, but there was something that didn't quite fit. And I was like a dog with a tasty bone, I simply couldn't let go of the feeling that it wasn't made by Riihimaki (Finland). I mentioned my feelings to a couple of people and I explained my rationale for believing that Drapery Vt was not a Riihimaki item, but I was nervous of "coming out" with my rationale. I'll list the reasons behind my suspicions . . .
1. The shot glasses and tumblers are found in England (and other shapes have been found in the UK too)
2. The bases often exhibit a shiny mirror grind
3. The iridescence is often a magnificent shimmering peacock marigold with vivid highlights of turquoise, lime and pink
4. In the Cristalerias Piccardo (South America) catalog the Drapery Vt pitcher is called "Checo"
5. The decanter set (which Drapery Variant is known in) is not a typical shape for Riihimaki
Now, all the above made me think that the pattern was made in Czechoslovakia and not Finland. It's pretty unusual (in fact downright rare) to come across examples of Riihimaki Carnival in the UK. But there is a lot of Czech Carnival in the UK. (In fact back in the 1950s there were a lot of clear crystal Drapery Vt tumblers on sale in the UK - most homes had a set of them). And then there's that mirror shiny base grind - this is a typical signature characteristic of Josef Inwald, the Czech maker. Plus the shimmering peacock iridescence - another signature of Inwald. And then to cap it all, the Argentinean catalog that included imported glass actually named the pattern Checo - clearly implying the source of manufacture to be Czechoslovakia.
Well, the circumstantial evidence was all there, but no absolute proof. Then recently, a couple of Drapery Variant tumblers surfaced with an unusual color finish - a colored flashing contrasted with crystal. Not at all typical of Riihimaki's glass, yet very typical of Czech decorative techniques.
The evidence was mounting. But there was still no proof. Until now. Thanks to Siegmar Gieselberger and Herr Neumann, more Markhbeinn catalogs have surfaced. Markhbeinn was a glass wholesaler and distributer, not a glass maker. In these catalogs, alongside known Inwald patterns such as Jacobean, Nola and Double Diamond, we see a range of shapes in the Drapery Variant pattern.
Eureka - my gut feeling was right - Drapery Variant was made in Carnival by Josef Inwald of Czechoslovakia.
OK, take a deep breathe, get out your red "corrector" pens and amend all the books! But before we go on to look at some more of Josef Inwald's Carnival, we should take a moment to consider why the Drapery Variant pattern is shown in the Riihimaki catalogs. Does it mean that the Carnival examples were made by both manufacturers? It's possible, but I doubt it. The only shape shown in the Riihimaki catalogs that is known in Carnival is a tumbler. It's entirely possible that this specific shape was made by both Inwald and Riihimaki - or maybe the Finnish version was in crystal only. But there are no other shapes known in Carnival shown in the Riihimaki catalogs. On the other hand, as the extract shows below, the Markhbeinn (Inwald) inventory includes a wide range of shapes in the pattern - but the best thing of all is that they list them in irise (iridized - Carnival). Proof.
At the top of this page, left, is the magnificent Drapery Variant decanter set that was found in England and now resides in the USA. On the right is the catalog illustration - note the glass set is on a nickel tray (not glass). |
