Dear Helaine and Joe: I would like some information on this glassware. The pieces have no markings, and they should be about 75 to 100 years old. I assume three of the pieces are a creamer, a sugar bowl and a butter dish, but I am not sure what the other two are. They are a beautiful emerald-green with gold highlights. — R.S., Bettendorf, Pa.
Dear R.S.: The expression "rich as Croesus" was on the mind of the Riverside Glass Works of Wellsburg, W.Va., when it introduced pattern No. 484 and named it Croesus Ware. Croesus was a king of Lydia who lived from 560 to 546 B.C. and was fabled for his wealth. Riverside wanted to convey the message that this glassware was very richly decorated and, perhaps, fit for a king.
Croesus Ware was introduced in 1897, and it came in three colors: clear-colorless, emerald-green and amethyst. The clear-colorless, or "crystal," was sold plain with no gold enrichment. But the pieces made in green and amethyst were accented with gilding on the fan and the C-scroll area of the design.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many American glass companies made sets of pressed glass to be used on the table. These so-called "table services" included butter dishes, salt shakers, jelly compotes, jam jars, toothpick holders, castor sets, berry sets (usually consisting of a large master berry bowl and eight smaller individual berry bowls), creamers, sugar bowls, spooners, celery vases, syrup dispensers, cake stands, goblets, tumblers, banana stands, pickle jars, compotes and so on.
Croesus came in most but not all of the shapes listed above, and the pieces belonging to R.S. are a large-sized creamer and sugar bowl, a covered butter dish, a spooner and a celery vase. The spooner is the shorter of the two vase-shaped items, and the celery vase is the taller.
Of the three colors of glass in which Croesus was made, the objects in clear are the least valuable today and the examples in amethyst are the most valuable. The value of the pieces made in green are in the middle.
Of the items belonging to R.S., the most valuable by far is the celery vase, which in green retails for about $300 to $350 (in clear it is about $250, and in amethyst about $450). To us, the idea of a celery vase is a little bit odd, but in the late 19th century, celery was an exotic vegetable that was often displayed at the table in vases.
The butter dish should be valued for insurance purposes between $150 and $200; the creamer and sugar bowl for $125 to $150 each; and the spooner, which, as the name suggests, was meant to hold spoons and other utensils, for $85 to $110. There is a small increase in value for having a partial set, and all the pieces together should be insured for about $1,000.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Treasures in Your Attic" (HarperCollins, $18). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.