- Posts about Queen Mary Depression Glass
- Basic Information about Queen Mary
- Queen Mary Pieces Made
- Availability and Pricing
- Reproduction and Damage Concerns
Posts about Queen Mary Depression Glass
Queen Mary Depression Glass – Crystal or Pink
Fun Depression Glass Pieces in Crystal Queen Mary
What Does the Queen of England Have In Common With Depression Glass?
Depression Glass Candle Holders from Hocking – Queen Mary, Manhattan, Oyster and Pearl
Basic Information about Queen Mary
Hocking Glass made Queen Mary depression glass from 1936 to 1947 in pink and crystal and a few pieces in Royal Ruby and Forest Green. They made all pieces in crystal except one bowl, and most in pink. Some early collectors named this “Vertical Ribbed” which describes the pattern well.
Pieces are round with sharp, defined angular ribs that run vertically on each piece. Plates have the ribs run outwards from the center point in the rim and on the base. Plate rims curve up from the base.
The pattern looks solid and distinctive and somewhat heavier than some of the more delicate mold-etched patterns. The crystal especially sparkles in the light while the pink is a soft shade, typical of Hocking.
Queen Mary Pieces Made
Hocking made Queen Mary as a dinnerware service with plenty of serving pieces and tumblers plus many interesting accessories. Let’s start with dinnerware.
Bowls and Plates for Place Settings.
Queen Mary has an unusually high number of individual use bowls, 3 small bowls from 4 to 5 inches, a 2-handled lug soup bowl, and a cereal bowl. One of the small bowls has a tab handle while the others are flared, like little cups. The berry bowl is below followed by the 6 inch cereal.
For plates you can have a 6 5/8 inch plate, also used as a saucer, 8 3/4 inch salad and 9 3/4 inch dinner. This not very good photo shows the salad plate. There is a 6 inch plate as well that is the mayonnaise liner.
Hocking made 2 cups, the smaller uses a true saucer with cup ring while the larger uses the sherbet liner. Notice that the ribs flow into the smooth band around the lip for smooth drinking.
The sherbet looks like a small footed cup, it is not the pedestal style. There is a flat version too but I have not seen this.
Serving Pieces.
Queen Mary has as complete an assortment of serving pieces as we find anywhere in depression glass. We’ll look here at serving bowls, serving plates, creamer, sugar, relish dish, celery, butter dish, shakers and mayonnaise. About the only pieces lacking is a gravy boat.
Queen Mary has two serving bowls, a deep 7 1/2 inch one and a 8 3/4 inch large berry. There is also a 6 inch shallow bowl with 3 little feet. There is no oval platter in the line up but look for two sandwich/serving plates, 12 and 14 inches across.
There are two creamers each with matching sugar bowl. One style is shaped like a traditional creamer with small round foot while the other is oval and larger.
You can choose among 4 relish trays, the neat clover style at the top of this page, or 2-part, 3-part or 5 part versions.
The celery is shallow and oval.
The butter dish is also the preserve with cover. It’s quite attractive with a high dome cover.
Shakers have metal lids and the usual strong design.
The mayonnaise is actually a small flared bowl on a flat 6 inch plate. Here I show the plate with the comport, not the true mayonnaise.
Accessory Pieces
Hocking must have had fun with the Queen Mary accessory pieces as they made several, ashtrays, candy dish, candle holder, cigarette jar, coaster, comport, vase. We did not see all of these in our glass shopping but we did get some to show you here.
There are three ashtrays, a small oval one with 2 cigarette rests, a combo ashtray/coaster that has 5 rests and a small square version that I have not seen. First up is the ashtray/coaster shown in Forest Green. Hocking made this piece in Royal Ruby and crystal as well.
The small oval one came in pink and crystal. Here is the crystal.
The candle holder is a wonderful piece that looks like a saguaro cactus. Hocking made it in Royal Ruby and crystal.
The candy dish, made in both pink and crystal, is shaped much like the candy dishes in other Hocking patterns, round with vertical sides and a plain lid. The comport is shown above along with the mayo plate. I have not seen the cigarette jar, the 3 1/2 inch round coaster nor the vase. The vase is crystal only, no pink.
Tumblers
There are 3 tumblers, a 5 ounce juice, 9 ounce water and 10 ounce iced tea, 3 1/2, 4 and 5 inches tall respectively. The 10 ounce tumbler is footed while the other 2 are flat. The 9 ounce tumbler has an unusual bulbous top with straight lower half. I’ve not seen these in person.
Availability and Pricing
We found most of our Queen Mary pieces at flea markets or estate sales – remember we were buying for resale at the time – and I never specifically looked for or tried to buy this pattern. The crystal especially showed up in many pieces and at attractive prices.
Today on eBay (November 2024) I saw many pieces of both pink and clear, not everything of course, but you could easily accumulate a set for dinner and many of the neat accessory pieces. Be careful as many of the tumblers and some other pieces were miss-listed as Queen Mary that are not this pattern.
Prices seemed about in line given this has not been an expensive pattern with many collectors searching for it. Be careful to check the shipping cost and if you can, look for multiple items such as 4 plates or what have you as these are usually less costly on a per-item basis.
Reproduction and Damage Concerns
No one has reproduced or re-issued Queen Mary depression glass so you can be confident you are not dealing with fakes. There are a few patterns that are somewhat similar but these will have different shapes. I don’t think you are likely to be fooled by any of these. (Be careful buying online as sellers there may mistake the pattern if they are not familiar with depression glass.)
We noticed Queen Mary bowls and similar pieces tended to be nicked on the rims. The vertical, angular ribs extend right to the bowl rims and thus easily can get damaged, especially if stacked.
Plates have rims that slope down and I did not find any inner rim roughness. If you are careful to check rims – top, outside edge and inside edge – of all pieces, especially bowls or similar shapes, you should be OK.
Summary
Queen Mary has not achieved super star status in depression glass yet it is quite attractive and abundant, especially in crystal with no reproduction concerns. Try to buy in person at sales or markets, check rims for nicked ribs and you shouldn’t have any problem getting the pieces you want.