Today’s tour of Candlewick creamers and sugars is full of boulders and rock slides! Imperial made five styles of creamer and sugar sets, and to make it even more confusing, they altered the styles over time, changing heights and spout shapes.
You’ll see the 400/30 and 400/122 lines by far the most often. The two lines are nearly identical in shape, but you can easily tell them apart because the /30 shape is the usual 6 ounce size and the /122 size is mini, holding only 3 ounces.
Here are “the usual”, line 400/30 creamer and sugar:
The later version of the full size 400/30 creamer is slightly taller, 3 1/4 inches vs. 2 7/8 inches. Here is the creamer so you can see the difference.
It’s hard to sell sizes in pictures, but this mini sugar, line 400/122, is noticeably smaller than the previous shapes.
I got several creamers and sugars in a Candlewick lot at the flea market about 12 years ago. This was before I had my Candlewick book and I had a hard time figuring which was which since the sizes and shapes varied. Now that I’ve got the book (and no longer have any Candlewick in stock) it is reassuring to read that I wasn’t going nuts, the shapes and sizes did change!
You may find the taller, most elegant 400/31 line either plain or with a star cutting. I really like this shape. Per my book, Imperial early on made some /31 with small beads around the base and plain handles.
I have not personally seen all these variations but found them researching my trusty Candlewick book, Candlewick: The Crystal Line by Myrna and Bob Garrison (which I recommend if you choose to pursue this fascinating pattern).
Before you ask, the line numbers appear to be the only way to denote these, although mentally I called the 400/30 and 400/122 “the usual” and the 400/31 line “the tall neat ones with stems”.
Not to be done with confusing us poor collectors, Imperial made two other lines, the 400/153 and 400/18 lines. Line 400/153 is neat. The foot is domed with beads around the edges and the creamer has a curled, smooth handle that doesn’t touch the side.
Sugar has no handle and looks a little like an egg cup but is actually the same piece as the Old Fashioned! My book notes this set is hard to find and the sugar/old fashioned lists for $80 on Replacements.
I wasn’t able to get a picture of the last creamer and sugar, line 400/126. The pieces are wider, more oval than the squat shapes of the /30 and /122 and the sugar doubles as the bouillon cup.
If you decide to collect Candlewick and want to pursue some of these fascinating, hard-to-find fun pieces, I recommend you get the Candlewick book. It’s fun to collect patterns like Candlewick, ones where you can find many basic pieces, enough that you can use them for decoration or dessert, but can have the fun of hunting for a few elusive pieces too!