Our series on spiral and swirl patterns continues with Diana from Federal Glass. Diana is true depression glass, dating from the late 1930s (1937 to 1941 to be exact). Federal made Diana in crystal (aka clear), amber, pink and some interesting trimmed pieces like this demitasse set with platinum around the edge. (It amazes me that companies would apply precious metals to mass produced inexpensive glass but many companies did it. You’ll find a lot of silver trims and some gold and platinum trims too.)
Diana Crystal & Silver Demitasse Set
Pieces to See
You will find Diana in a full dinnerware set, complete with a few serving pieces like the platter, creamer and sugar, but there is only one tumbler, and it is rare, and no pitcher. This is the large round platter, notice the silver on the rim and the narrow silver line about 1/4 inch from the rim. This piece had a lot of silver wear although the surface was in great shape.
Diana Crystal Depression Glass Large Round Sandwich Plate
Federal made a couple accessory items like a candy dish and coaster, but Diana is a fairly small pattern. It’s relatively easy to find in all the colors, although I’ve seen pink and crystal more often than amber. (I’ll show my amber finds first though!)
Diana Amber Depression Glass Oval Platter
The creamer and sugar are interesting pieces, rather blocky looking.
Diana Amber Depression Glass Sugar Bowl
Notice the handles on the cream soup and cup are the same as those on the sugar bowl.
Diana Amber Cup and Saucer
The cream soup flares out and is wider while the sugar is more square.
Diana Crystal Cream Soup Bowl
My favorite Diana pieces are the bowls. The cereal bowl is relatively plentiful, especially compared to so many patterns where the cereals – or any small bowl – are darn scarce.
Diana Pink Depression Glass Cereal Bowl
There are two styles of larger fruit or console bowls. This first one is nice enough.
Diana Crystal Depression Glass Plain Console Bowl
But my favorite is this one with the scalloped rim that’s gently rolled over.
Diana Crystal Scalloped Console Bowl
Identification Tips
One way you can always spot Diana is the spirals are made of very narrow ribs. The other spiral patterns have wider ribs that are rounded. The sure fire way is to look at the centers and edges. The centers have a spiral design that is separate from the spiral design on the edges.
It’s hard to see the center spirals in some of the photos, but take a look again at the amber platter that shows the two spirals.
Diana Amber Depression Glass Oval Platter
I’m not aware of any other pattern that has narrow ribs and two spirals like this. Recall from our earlier post on Hocking Spiral (here) and Imperial’s Twisted Optic (here) that both patterns have plain centers.
What to Watch Out For
The good news is that no one has reproduced or re-issued Diana. You can collect this pattern without worrying about fakes or getting taken advantage of. Related to the no-repro situation is the fact Diana is low priced. You can find the usual dinnerware pieces very reasonably priced. You have to do some searching or waiting to get a full set of everything, but pieces are available. (I did a bit of research just now for this post and found that Replacements was actually priced under most pieces on eBay.)
The other thing to be aware of is that Diana is not too prone to nicks. Even though those spiral ridges go out to the rims, the actual rim is smooth and rounded on plates, cups, saucers. The cereal bowl has some pointy bits and that’s the only piece I’ve seen with chipping.
Overall Diana is a pleasing pattern, easy to work with, pretty, nice colors and reasonably abundant pieces. What’s not to like?