Beware of New Rose Point
by Bill Smith
Issue No. 120 - April 1983
It has come to our attention very recently that Rose Point has been another of the victims of REPRODUCTION.
It is our hope that making you aware of this situation will assist you in protecting your collections and will also possibly prevent your becoming a victim of a difficult situation.
We have only seen one example of this "new" Rose Point. It is a
nearly straight sided, flat bottom sham tumbler of approximately 12
ounce capacity. It has a "safety lip" on the top as opposed to the
straight edges that would be found on a Cambridge tumbler. A safety
edge is a beading, or slight build up, of glass on the top edge of a
vessel that is the result of having been melted slightly to smooth the
edges. The quality of the glass is similar to the high production items
that are produced by companies such as Anchor-Hocking or Libby. The
glass is definitely not of the quality that we normally associate with
Cambridge. The measurements of this tumbler are 4 1/8" high, 3
¼" top diameter and 3 1/16" bottom diameter. The thickness of
the bottom is approximately 5/8".
The quality of the etching is a completely different story. It is an etching of very good quality, deep, sharp and well done. We have tried to compare the etching on the tumbler that we now have with other examples of Rose Point, and have arrived at the conclusion that it does not appear to be from one of the Cambridge etching plates. Apparently it has been etched from a completely new plate.
There may be some hope for us in the volume of this "new" production. All of the information which we have been able to gather seems to indicate that the production has been very limited. We now believe it to have included three different sizes of tumblers, the above mentioned 12 ounce, a larger tumbler of the same type with a capacity of approximately 16 ounces, and the third size being approximately 9 ounces. Quantity figures are in the realm of ten or twelve dozen 12 ounce, three or four dozen 16 ounce and a very small number of the 9 ounce.
The numbers are relatively unimportant at this time; however, as the
real problem lies in the fact that new production has occurred. At this
point in time it is apparently only in tumblers. What might it be
tomorrow? If an individual or a company has found an inexpensive means
of creating these new plates and has found it financially beneficial to
reap a profit from the Rose Point market, there would be no means
available to us to prevent being taken in by other examples of this
work as well.
This instance of possible deception could very easily be compounded by situations of actually using Cambridge blanks in the new process and we would have no means whatsoever of protection. Hopefully, our being aware of the existence of these pieces will be of some help to us if and when we are approached with any offerings that are questionable.
Any further information on this subject would be greatly appreciated, so that all of our collectors can be informed.