One way to spot a pattern that was popular during the depression era is by the number of pieces; companies introduced new pieces in popular patterns that they produced for several years. Iris and Herringbone from Jeannette is a good example.
Jeannette first made Iris in crystal from 1928 to 1932, then again in iridescent and some crystal during the 1950s, again in the 1970s. They applied colors to some pieces but mostly you will find clear and an iridescent marigold color.
Jeannette made three ruffled Iris bowls, ranging from this small sauce dish size to a larger salad and up to a 11 1/2 inch ruffled fruit bowl.
Iris & Herringbone Crystal Ruffled Berry Bowl
Most of the ruffled bowls have a non-ruffled counterpart with a flat or beaded rim. In fact Iris has 5 flat or beaded bowls with no ruffles:
- 4 1/2 Inch berry bowl,
- 5 inch cereal bowl,
- 7 1/2 inch soup bowl,
- 8 inch berry bowl
- and a 11 inch flared serving bowl.
All of the flat or beaded edge bowls are rather costly while the ruffled ones are easy to find and inexpensive. In fact we’re offering two of the small ruffled bowls for $15.99 including shipping. The small berry with a beaded rim is over $30 and much harder to find in crystal. (This same beaded edge berry is common in the iridescent color as are the ruffled sizes.)
If you enjoy Iris and Herringbone I recommend you get a good glass reference book, such as Gene Florence’s Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, 19th Edition or an earlier edition (available on Amazon here Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass for much less than the last edition.) There are a few pieces of reproduction Iris out there – all are easy to spot – and the good books show you how to tell apart the real from the fake.