I’ve have a soft spot for Fostoria Buttercup. My Mom received a creamer and sugar as wedding gifts which she used almost every day for the 63 years she and Dad were married. We found a creamer and sugar out antiquing a couple years ago and of course, bought the pair. They aren’t my Mom’s, but they remind me of having breakfast with them.
Buttercup is an etch full of trailing flowers on stems with curled vines and leaves. It was one of Fostoria’s popular patterns; they made it from 1941 to 1960 and Gorham silver produced matching sterling flatware.
If you are seeking elegant glass you can use without worrying too much about utensil wear then look for patterns that put designs in the centers of plates and bowls. Your eye tends to skip over small scratches when there is a busy pattern. Buttercup, along with Fostoria Chintz, has the design in the center. (Navarre, Meadow Rose, and most other Fostoria patterns have plain centers.)
Fostoria used the Sonata blank for the center handled server, cheese and cracker, mayo set, torte plate, candle holders and several other accessory pieces.
Plates are etched on the plain, round blank #2337. Fostoria used blank #6030 for Buttercup stemware, the same shape as they used for the Holly cutting. (Cordial shown is Holly, included to show the stem shape.) I don’t care much for the stemware and if we were to get more pieces we’d concentrate on the accessories.
Fostoria made a full line of stemware, from the water goblet down to the oyster cocktail and cordial, but I didn’t see a grapefruit or other nested stem. You might find the somewhat rare pitcher to go with your stemware; there is no decanter.
For dinnerware you can choose four round plate sizes, 6 inch bread and butter, 7 1/inch salad, 8 1/2 inch lunch or 9 1/2 inch dinner. The crescent shaped salad plate allows for narrower place settings as it nestles next to the dinner.
Fostoria didn’t make many bowls apparently. The 6 inch wide baked apple bowl would be your only choice for a place setting piece. There are some pretty serving bowls but no small sauce dish, soup bowl or cereal. Perhaps people had gotten away from using glass dinnerware in the 1950s and Fostoria was mostly producing stemware, at least in this pattern. June is typical of earlier, successful patterns with several place setting bowls and complete dinner service
We have not found many pieces of it while antiquing the past 20 years but there is a decent selection available online. Replacements has most of the stems and plates and several accessory pieces. Replacements’ prices are about the same or somewhat above the out of date prices in Gene Florence’s 2008 Collectible Glassware from the 40s 50s and 60s. For example, Florence prices water goblets at $20 and Replacements is $40; Replacements has low sherbets for $8 and Florence suggests $9. Dinner plates are $28 per Florence and $26 on Replacements.
The hard-to-find accessory pieces have increased in price; e.g., Replacements prices the pitcher at $350 and Florence suggests $250. Remember that glass prices plummeted beginning around 2005 and only began to recover a few years ago. Florence would have researched his book based on supply and demand in 2007/2008 and things have changed. More people are aware that their Mom’s glass might have value and are offering it for sale, meaning some once-rare pieces are no longer so rare. Bear in mind that glass is heavy and difficult to ship and dealers build that into their prices.
If you like Buttercup you might look at eBay and Etsy for pieces. I found quite a few stems, plates and some accessory items on both sites. Remember to check photos and descriptions and always ask questions if you aren’t sure about condition.