Frank+Fenton

=Frank L. Fenton (1880-1948)=



Important Events:
1. Along with his brother, John W. Fenton, he founded the Fenton Art Glass company in Martins Ferry, Ohio in 1905.

2. In 1907, he invented Iridescent glass- now known as Carnival glass- and sold it in a multitude of patterns and colors. This pitcher was designed by Frank Fenton in 1910. It's called the "Crystal and Lilies" pattern.

3. Carnival glass was the last glass in America that was shaped by hand. After it's production stopped in the early 1940's, all American glass was shaped and patterned entirely by machines.

=Did you know...?=


 * The Millersburg Glass company was founded by John Fenton after he and his brother had a series of arguments on designs and marketing.
 * The Fenton Glass company is the only maker of carnival glass that is still in operation today by the original family members that founded it.
 * Frank's technique for creating Carnival Glass involved adding minerals into the glass mixture so that the iridescent color became part of the glass itself. Modern reproductions of carnival glass are sprayed with a mixture and a sealant that produces an almost identical sheen, but the mixture can eventually rub or flake off.
 * When John started the Millersburg company, the quality of Millersburg glass was considered superior to Fenton's, but the patterns were considered somewhat inferior.
 * Fenton glass artists were encouraged to do "whimsies": one of a kind pieces where the patterned glass was shaped in unusual ways. This was a form of experimentation that produced several new lines of products.
 * The Fentons started their company with just $284.86.

=I wonder...=

A Fenton Birds and Cherries pattern. (This sold at auction in 2000 for $16,000.)
 * Which of the earlier patterns belonged to Frank and which belonged to John. Some of the major ones have been identified through records, but most remain unclear.
 * Which particular argument finally drove John to start the Millersburg Glass company.
 * Why John's glass formula was considered superior to Frank's glass. Was it the minerals added? Or perhaps something with the heating process?

A Millersburg Hobnail table set. (This set sold on Ebay for $4,025)

=What I think about this person=

Frank Fenton was very much a stereotypical artist. His concern was first and foremost with the beauty of the pieces he created, and he was known for trying out several different designs and shapes in short time periods. As a artist, he was perhaps the best glass designer of his time. As a person, he was known to be temperamental and somewhat unconcerned with day to day operations. These things he left to his brother John until John left to create the Millersburg glass company. Still, his legacy has inspired a highly collectible antique glass market today and a veritable plague of reproductions, reissues, and fakes.

=Connections=


 * 1) John Fenton and the Millersburg Glass Company
 * 2) Harry Northwood- Northwood Glass factory (Frank got his start as a member of the decorating department in the Northwood factory in 1897 before going on to start Fenton Glass Company.)
 * 3) Imperial Glass company- This company was founded after the Fenton company started a Carnival Glass craze in the early 1900's.

=Websites:=


 * 1) http://www.fentonartglass.com/news/fenton_antiques1005.htm (The Fenton Website. This is the biography of Frank Fenton.)
 * 2) http://www.ddoty.com/ (David Doty's Carnival Glass website. This site has pictures of almost every carnival glass pattern produced, including rare ones and whimsies. It also includes pricing information and ways to identify the sometimes tricky geometric patterns.)