Buying and Authenticating Sharon Rose/Cabbage Rose Patterned Depression Glass

BreakingNews: Continued antiquing results in a rather bountiful acquisition of several depression glass pieces in both Amber in Pink!  

This is a huge post so click through to read more!

This post is a continuation from my previous antiquing trip.

Searching for these pieces has become a treasure hunt. I have been finding the most beautiful collection items in the most unlikely of places. I didn't find this stuff in a dainty glass shop, it was just sitting around like those old rotted through bathtubs.

Here is the bounty from the whole trip so far

Stunning!

Lets take a tour!

Here is the vegetable bowl detail:

Top shot of an amber vegetable bowl

The Sharon Rose vegetable bowl is ~2" deep and 9.5"x7" oval width and length. I am confident that this not a reproduction as there were no vegetable bowl reproductions. 

Here is the platter detail.

Pink Sharon Rose/Cabbage Rose Platter

The platter is 12.5"x9" oval width and length. Again, no reproductions were made.

Here are the 8.5" bowls.

8.5" Amber bowls/serving dishes in Sharon Rose/ Cabbage Rose Pattern

I am well on my way on getting service for 2! Again, no reproductions were made for these pieces

I'm also seeing these called "fruit bowls".

Here is the Candy Dish Detail

Pink Sharon Rose Candy Dish top shot

Pink Sharon Rose Candy Dish Profile

This candy dish (without lid) measures  6" diameter by 5" tall. This one is tricky.  There were reproductions made for this item in the 1970's. The only thing my guide describes the reproduction of the candy dish:

"The candy dish is so crudely done that the bubbles and poor mold design should give it away immediately."

What does that mean? It feels real only because it doesn't look grossly out of place when it is sitting next to my must-be-real vegetable platter. I found no bubbles when I inspected it. There was a molding seam, but in depression glass that doesn't mean that its fake.

This page says that an easier way to tell is by measuring the base. The base should be 3 1/4" across. The reproductions were only 3" across at the base. I am proud to say that the candy dish pictured here is real.

Finally,  here is the butter dish.

Amber Butter dish in Sharon Rose/Cabbage Rose pattern top shot

Amber Butter dish in Sharon Rose/Cabbage Rose pattern with lid on

Amber Butter dish in Sharon Rose/Cabbage Rose pattern profile shot

Butter Dish: 7.5"diameter x1.5"deep

There was much fanfair about whether or not this was a butter dish or a cheese dish. If this was a cheese dish, it would have been the creme-de-la-creme of a find because it is the rarest piece of the collection. It is not 100% obvious because the butter dish and the cheese dish use the same top.

This website is very informative on this subject. They say

"The butter dish bottom ($25 to $40) only measures 7½ inches in diameter and is shallower, about 1½ inches deep and has an indentation around the inside edge that keeps the top from slipping around."

whereas

"The cheese dish bottom is a 7½ inch salad plate with a raised ring of glass to hold the top in place."

This confused me because butter dish and the cheese plate are the same diameter. The depth is the important part here. The cheese plate isn't deep because its not a bowl, its a plate. It is a plate with a lip that you might find stacked with a bunch of other depression glass plates (so watch if the plates stack funny).

Now that we've fully determined whether or not this thing was a butter or cheese dish, I needed to figure out whether or not it is a reproduction.

My useful source says this:

"Old butter/cheese lids have such a squat knob that your fingers cannot grasp it securely. When you pick up an old lid by the knob, you can barely get the tips of your fingers into the space between the knob and the flat surface of the top."

Of course, that makes me a little insecure. Is mine nubby enough to be real?

This source says

"The easiest way to tell an original butter dish from a reproduction is to look at the knob on the lid.  The knob on a reproduction is pointed up like a triangle pyramid; whereas, an original knob is more rounded and flat.  Also, there is a sharp rim on the base of the butter dish on a reproduction; whereas, the rim is barely distinguishable an original butter base."

And shows us this picture

From depressionglassantiques.org

The angle isn't giving me many clues about how pointy and pyramid-y the knob is.

Then I saw this image:

Federal Glass only made Sharon Rose Depression glass in Pink, Amber, and Green.

I know for a fact that this is a reproduction because it is blue, and that is one awfully pyramid-y knob. that is not what mine looks like.

That was my process for authenticating (ALL!) my purchases for today!

I have all these amber pieces now! My collection was supposed to be just pink, but now it seems as though I have as just as many pink pieces as amber pieces. I have an inkling that my fruit bowl may be a fake and the ambers will win. My dad told me that if I decided to pursue only one color, the extra pieces could suffice as trading fodder. He prefers the amber in fact.

So let me know if you have some pink or amber cabbage rose to trade!

Other Notes:
- Here is a link to some full service pictures  (in my dreams!)
 - Does this link work for you? This google book has some excellent illustrates about how to tell new - from old depression glass pieces (with different sections for each pattern!)
 - This ebay guide is also helpful with authentications!