The Fenton Art Glass Company
The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded by brothers Frank L. and John W. Fenton in 1905 in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, but moved to Williamsburg, West Virginia a year later. The company was originally a glass decorating company and did not start producing glass until 1907. John left the company in 1908 and founded his own glass company. The company survived the Great Depression and World War II, by making glass bottle for perfume producers and bowls for electric mixers. Fenton produced glass longer than most other jadite manufacturers, ceasing production of glass in 2011, only Anchor Hocking, maker of Fire-King, has outlasted Fenton. While no longer producing traditional glassware, the Fenton name lives on as the company now produces glass beads for jewelry and was purchased by John Barton Company in 2015.
In addition, to making glass, Fenton also acquired a number of molds from other glass manufacturers as they went out of business, these include: McKee, Westmoreland, and Verlys. Fenton did not begin marking its glass until the 1970s, at that time the glass was marked with a script “Fenton” in an oval. In subsequent decades, a number was added below the word Fenton to indicate the decade the glass was produced (an 8 for the 1980’s, a 9 for the 1990’s, a 0 for the 2000’s, and a 1 for the 2010’s). Additionally, the company used a script “F” in an oval on molds that were acquired from other manufacturers, with the exception of Verlys (these pieces have the normal Fenton logo).
The best known pattern produced by Fenton was the hobnail pattern. Carnival glass was also developed by Frank L. Fenton, while working for the Northwood company, and Fenton produced a wide variety of carnival colors. Fenton was known for producing a wide variety of colors and glass treatments, and it should therefore come as no surprise that there are at least four jadite family colors produced by Fenton. The first is a clambroth color called “Jade” that was produced during the 1920’s through the 1930’s and again for 1 year in 1980. The pieces produced in 1980 will bear the “Fenton” mark, while those produced in the 1920’s through 1930’s do not. In the 1970’s, the company produced a color called “Lime” this is a lighter and brighter jadite color, and most pieces that are found have a satin finish (often referred to as Lime Sherbet). There are, however, shiny pieces of Lime and this is the only jadite color that was produced in the famous hobnail pattern. In 1998, the company introduced “Sea Green Satin” most of the pieces produced in this color featured a slight iridescent sheen. The final color was produced for Martha Stewart’s Martha By Mail line and was referred to as “Martha Stewart Green”. This color is very similar to Sea Green Satin but is a bit “greener”. Fenton was one of two original glass manufacturer’s chosen to produce items for the Martha by Mail catalog and the pieces produced by Fenton for Martha Stewart were all marked with the Fenton logo.
