Fostoria Waterfall Stem – Art Deco Design in Vintage Glass

Last post I shared Fostoria line 5098, which they sold along with their Fairfax dinnerware pattern.  Many people today consider that line to be the Fairfax pattern.  Fostoria made an even lovelier stem for some etched patterns on the Fairfax dinnerware, line 5099, the Waterfall stem.

I like Art Deco designs, and vintage glass, and etched stemware, and this pattern brings all three of my favorites together.  This particular piece is the tall sherbet with the Trojan etch.  This is so tall and elegant it would make any table look great.  Can you see the three tiers of crystal on the stem that give this blank its nickname “Waterfall”?  The stem has ridges to make it easy to hold.

Almost all the stems in this line are bi color, with crystal feet and stems and colored bowls, although Fostoria made an all-crystal stem too.  I have never seen it and don’t know how popular the clear look was; considering Fostoria made this pattern during the height of the colored glass fashion, it probably was not too successful.

The only pieces we have had of Waterfall stem have been Trojan.  Fostoria also sold some without any etches, and used the blank for Versailles, Kashmir and Trojan.  You can find the Fairfax stem line 5098 also with Versailles, as well as June, Acanthus and Fern plus a few cut patterns.  I wonder why Fostoria put only Versailles on both shapes.

You can get a full set of stemware; Trojan in topaz may be the easiest to find.  Here is the small footed water tumbler.  The stem is short but it has the classic ridges and a bit of the tiered design.

This oyster cocktail sadly had a chip but you can see the lovely shape with the bell like bowl, so pretty.  The stem is even shorter here.

 

Last up is the Trojan wine goblet.  This is small, holding only about 3 ounces as was typical in the 1930s.  If you buy vintage goblets be aware that the sizes are quite different from contemporary styles.  You may prefer the water goblet if you like to use large goblets and fill them only partway.

This wine goblet made me very sad.  Right after I photographed it I dropped it on the tile floor in our old house and it smashed into a zillion pieces!  Of the pieces shown here, we have the Trojan topaz sherbet and tumbler in our Etsy store here.