We’re continuing our look at vintage glass patters with swirls and spirals in their design. Spirals are a very old design motif that never lost its appeal, a true classic in vintage glass. Today let’s look at Colony, a heavy pressed crystal pattern from Fostoria Glass.
Fostoria Glass Colony Crystal Water Goblet
Fostoria made Colony from 1940 to 1973 and incorporated selected pieces from Queen Anne, an older pattern. Colonial styling, as a general design trend, is almost always in style, or at least has its devotees. During the 1950s and 1960s Early American was very much in style with many families rediscovering classic furniture designs. Fostoria, as usual, was right on trend, with its Colony pattern as well with Jamestown and several etches with Early American themes.
Fostoria Colony Crystal Nut Bowl
Colony is a full dinnerware pattern with lots of accessory pieces, everything from ash trays to vases, made almost exclusively in clear crystal. They made just a few pieces in white milk glass during the 1950s and later re-introduced a bud vase and creamer and sugar in ruby as gift ware in 1982.
One of my favorite pieces is this muffin plate. I’m not sure why muffin plates have sides that curve up, but many older elegant glass patterns include them. I think they are neat pieces, much like a lemon plate except bigger.
Fostoria Colony Muffin Plate
This is the saucer, about the only regular piece of dinnerware we have photos of! The accessory pieces are so attractive that perhaps people bought them for gifts or to use themselves even if they didn’t have any Colony stemware or dinnerware.
Colony Crystal Saucer
There is a full line up of stemware. The water goblet is shown at the top and this is the sherbet. Fostoria made some flat tumblers too.
Fostoria Colony Sherbet
The torte plate is a fun piece with the rim. Looking at this we can see the spirals go to the left, counter clockwise from the center – you need to imagine you are looking down at the piece.
Fostoria Colony Torte Plate
I really like the handles Fostoria used for Colony. They are just perfect with the rest of the shapes.
Fostoria Colony Sugar
Fostoria Colony is a good choice if you want a few nifty pieces and enjoy the look of pure clear crystal. The glass is excellent quality with great clarity and the shapes are a lot of fun. It’s plentiful enough that you can get the pieces you want with some looking, especially online where it seems plentiful. I got most of these pieces at estate sales and flea markets. (I think the stems were $1 each at the flea market!)
Most of the accessory pieces are affordable too. The muffin plate and torte plate now are around $20-30 (but avoid the huge 17 inch torte which is over $300) and stemware is also very reasonable, under $10 for most pieces. That makes it a good choice if you want to give someone a gift of vintage glass. The style and shapes are appealing and most people enjoy this classic good looking pattern from Fostoria.