Fostoria Coronet Crystal Vintage Elegant Glass

Fostoria Glass made Coronet from the late 1930s until 1960 but according to my book Fostoria Tableward 1944-1986 by Milbra Long and Emily Seate, many pieces were dicontinued during 1943 and the pattern was smaller after the war. Fostoria made serving pieces, such as the ice bucket shown above, a wide shallow salad bowl, relish trays, mayo sets, cheese and cracker and muffin trays, plus candleholders, vases and dinnerware.

The common motif in all these pieces is the set of three wavy lines around the rim. All handled pieces used scrolling, curved handles that look like ram's horns. We show the creamer to the right.

Coronet is easy to identify. Look for three wavy lines, like ripples, that are near the rim. The other pattern that has lines by the rim is number 2650 Horizon, but you won't mistake the two since Horizon is less common, had more severe shapes and came in spruce green and cinnamon brown. Coronet handles are especially nice, with curled up ridges that look like ram's horns. Flat handles, like on the relish tray, have little parallel curled rams horns.

Fostoria sold Coronet plain, and it is rich looking by itself and has enough character that it does not need an etch to be beautiful. Of course Fostoria also used it as a blank for etchings.

The most notable etch on Coronet was Willowmere and we show a salad plate to the right. Willowmere is beautiful roses and trailing vines, very nice.

Mayflower is another etch found on Coronet. Mayflower has a flower bouquet surrounded with a half circle wreath of flowers and a swag of flowers and leaves around the rim. At first glance Mayflower looks a little like Fostoria's Corsage, but if you remember that Corsage looks like an ice cream cone with ribbons you won't mix them up. (Besides, Corsage was etched on different blanks.)

You may be lucky enough to find the Richlieu decoration, which is a gold filled etch with sprays of flowers, on Coronet. Fostoria made Richlieu only two years so it is scarce.

Cynthia cutting is on Coronet for dinnerware but on Sceptre stemware. Cynthia looks like sprays of pussy willows. We have Fostoria Cynthia stemware in our store but none of the pieces are cuttings on Coronet. (Yes, Coronet is scarce!)

Here's a very nice Fostoria Coronet relish tray that shows the wavy line motif.

We really enjoy the vintage glass relish trays that have gotten rather hard to find. If you would like to read more about early glass relish trays and pickle bowls or about the many beautiful glass relish trays then check these articles on the Antiques, Collectibles and Auction News website. (The lens author also wrote these articles.)

Fostoria made Coronet in crystal only. This was after the period when colored glass was big, which ended roughly in the mid 1930s. Although Fostoria made colored glass every year, crystal was the big seller after about 1940 and the Coronet pattern reflects this preference.

Coronet doesn't appear particularly susceptible to damage; the curved shapes and rather solid handles are not prone to chipping or cracks. You will want to check for scratches and wear. All these clear patterns, that do not have etches or cuttings that help hide wear, are most beautiful without wear. It's hard to find glass 50 years old that doesn't have some evidence of age, but do be wary of glass that has noticeable scratches or center wear.

As with almost all Fostoria glass, Coronet glassware has ground base rims and the seams are faint and smooth. Fostoria fire polished their glass which reduced the prevalence of the raised seam ridges so common in lesser quality depression glass.