Crown Tuscan
by Russell Vogelsong
Issue 67 - November 1978
Cambridge Crown Tuscan, a royal name in itself, is the subject of our first article.
Cambridge Coral was introduced in 1929. Beginning in 1936 it was renamed Crown Tuscan. Cambridge made pink opaque glass for 24 years and it was a very popular line. Today it is avidly sought by collectors across the country.
Colors in Crown Tuscan will vary from a little pink opaque to a very dark pink or coral and sometimes items will be found in an almost tan color.
Color variation is due to improper mixing of the chemical compounds made up for each batch of glass. It had to be mixed within 1 gram or the color would vary from batch to batch.
No item, in any of the Cambridge books or catalogues should be ruled as "Not made in Crown Tuscan", as over 5,000 molds were used to develop the Cambridge line.
Seashell patterns seem to have been the most popular line of Crown Tuscan. Examples are the Flying Lady bowl, Nautilus shell vases and compotes, sea shell ashtrays, cigarette boxes, etc. (see next two pages for other examples).
Crown Tuscan will be found decorated in a variety of ways, from platinum decorated to hand enameled. Etched and gold encrusted items seem to have been the most popular and these were special order items.
Often pieces are found acid stamped. The mark consists of: A crown
with the word "Tuscan" below it. Below the word Tuscan is a triangle
enclosing the letter "C" (see example shown here).
A limited number of items have been found decorated in gold overlay and silver overlay, marked "Rockwell", from the Rockwell Silver Co., in Meriden, Conn. At this time we do not know if blanks were sent to Rockwell for Decoration and returned to the factory, or if they were purchased from Cambridge, decorated, and sold thru outlets, such as: Jewelry and Department stores, etc. If and when these questions are answered, we will report them.
Silk screen decoration seems to have been popular also, but was not quite as durable when constantly cleaned. Other pieces are known to have been etched and enameled in black, green and red.
There has been much discussion as to the items decorated at Cambridge. Recently we acquired a Crown Tuscan dish with the original label on the bottom which read, "Charlton Hand Decorated". We have also seen Fenton's Silver Crest Petticoat glass decorated exactly the same way and labeled "Charlton Hand Decorated". We can only assume that this was a small firm that bought glass blanks from different companies and decorated them.
The decoration consists of wreaths of roses and buds in red, green leaves and gold dots. Some have been found with a picture of a ship in harbor. We are sure many more designs and decorations will be found.
As we have traveled collecting Cambridge Glass, we have seen different pieces labeled Crown Tuscan that were not Crown Tuscan. The Cambridge Glass Co. was not the only manufacturer of pink opaque glass. We know that Fenton, Fostoria, Jeannette, Aladdin Lamp Co., and Westmoreland made this color and there may have been others.
Coloring in these items is sometimes found to be similar. None of these companies had any molds that would be confused with Cambridge. If you intend to collect Cambridge Glass of any type, I would advise you to send for books from the authors listed by us. Once you have studied thee books and have seen Crown Tuscan, chances are you will not be mistaken when you see it.
CAMBRIDGE CORAL WAS PRODUCED 1929 to 1935 and CAMBRIDGE CROWN TUSCAN FROM 1936 TO 1954!
(Reprinted from Vogelsong Newsletter, Vol. I, No. 1, July, 1971.)
