Quick Facts About Fenton Art Glass
- Fenton Art Glass Company is the largest manufacturer of handmade colored glass in the United States.
- Today nine Fenton family members work together along with over 400 employees to create handmade glass
- The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 by Frank L. Fenton and his brother John W. Fenton in an old glass factory building in Martins Ferry, Ohio.
- Frank L. Fenton was first employed as a glass decorator at age 17, when he went to work for the Northwood Glass Co. in his hometown, Indiana, PA, in 1897.
- In 1907, Frank L. Fenton proposed to Lillian Muhleman, the niece of Captain Ed Muhleman who started the Imperial Glass Company in 1901.
- Frank L. Fenton was responsible for the design of most of Fenton's products until his death in 1948.
- In late 1907, Fenton introduced "Iridescent" glass. This glass, now known as "Carnival" glass, is a popular collectible today.
- During the years from 1905 to the 1920's, Fenton design was heavily influenced by the artists at Tiffany and Steuben.
- Fenton's opaque Venetian Red Glass first appeared in 1924.
- During the 1930's and 1940's, Fenton produced practical items, such as mixing bowls and tableware to get through the depression and WWII shortages.
- The main furnace stack at Fenton collapsed on June 29, 1940.
- Fenton's first Connoisseur Collection items were offered in 1983.
- The raw materials of glass (silica sand, soda ash and lime) are called a batch.
- Approximately 71% of a batch of glass is silica sand.
- There are 14 ingredients used in making Fenton Glass.
- The melting temperature for a batch of glass averages 2500 degrees F.
- The Fenton cranberry glass color comes from pure gold.
- Glass colors (yellow or green) containing uranium will fluoresce under black light.
- No two Fenton pieces are exactly the same.
- Moulds for glassmaking are made of cast iron.
- Fenton Art Glass is also sold on QVC in London, England.
- The largest tank at Fenton Art Glass can hold 9,000 pounds of glass.
- Fenton glassworkers work in teams called shops.
- The term to define the craftsman who pulls the molten glass from the furnace is called a 'gatherer'.
- The Gatherer, a craftsman who pulls the glass from the furnace, uses an ancient tool called a 'punty' to complete his job. A punty is almost 6' long and is used to gather pressed glass.
- To gather glass for a blown piece of glass, a gatherer uses a 'blow pipe'. A blow pipe is almost 5' long and has a hole in the middle like a straw.
- Our decorators use a mixture of oil base paint and turpentine to create their paint.
- To slowly cool Fenton Art Glass, we use an 'annealing lehr'. This machine is like a big pizza oven that slowly cools the glass.
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