My thanks to Kim who asked a good question:
“The plates and saucers and cups are shaped like the Chintz pattern, but were sold to me as the Romance pattern. Can you tell me if the Romance plates and saucers were shaped the same as the Chintz ones?”
Kim, that’s an excellent question and I can understand the problem. You see, Fostoria made several plain glass patterns, called blanks, that they used for different etchings. They used the pretty Baroque shape for both Chintz and several other patterns, and the plainer Sonata shape for Romance.
The Baroque plates have fleur de lis molded on the rims. It’s pretty distinctive as no other pattern has that design.
Here’s a Chintz 6 inch plate from our store. You can see the fleur de lis are between each grouping of flowers. The plates are scalloped.
Fostoria Chintz Etched Crystal Bread and Butter Plate
I have 7 1/2 inch dessert plates with the Romance etch on them. (It’s called a salad plate but I think it’s a great size for dessert!) This Sonata blank fits the Mid-Century Modern look. It’s round with no scallops and no molded design.
Fostoria Romance Etched Crystal Dessert Salad Plate
The etches are very different. Chintz has spiky roses with leaves and thorns trailing all over the plate. Romance has those pretty bouquets all tied in ribbons and bows. Both are stunning, gorgeous in a table setting.
Regardless which pattern you have, one thing you’ll enjoy is that these plates have the etch in the centers plus the rims. Lots of elegant glass plates are etched on the rims only, which means that every little tiny scratch is super noticeable. With the design your eyes skip right over usage marks.
I hope you will enjoy the glass you have and that it was the pattern you wanted. You are welcome to post pictures on our Facebook page at www.DepressionGlassFun.com.