The Luck of the Glass

As with most Blenko collectors we hit a dry patch every now and then. If you are a collector you understand the feeling. You visit your usual haunts and turn up nothing, not even a petal bowl. You go to antique shows and flea markets and get very close to a nice score and then it evaporates in the heat of the Texas summer. Then you have eBay and it is no better, either all the good stuff is out of your price range or all the stuff you can afford is the common pieces. This is what I call a Rut. The only good thing about ruts is that they never last forever. Friends, our rut has passed.

On Friday we followed up on a call to an antiques/collectibles dealer who told us about a Rose' decanter he had. When we laid eyes upon the piece our dentures almost fell out (btw we don't wear dentures). The #6316 decanter has been a goal of ours for a long time.


On Saturday after we scored the jewel of the Rose' crown, we went shopping on a lark, it was a lazy hot Saturday and it was either that or stay at home where it is cool. We chose the former. At our first stop we found this "monster" as it was called in the shop. A #5717 floor vase in Charcoal in excellent condition with the original label still attached.


No sooner did we leave that shop when we were offered a #5415 large floor vase, again in Charcoal at another shop. Unlike the other pieces this was no bargain, but I let a friend in on the piece if he was interested. Here's a #5415 from a catalog.


The very next place we stepped into we saw a beautiful 964L Rose' horn vase, that alas would not be going home with us for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we already have one and secondly, it was marked as being made by another glass maker and they were asking over $300.


To all who may be interested, I will be selling the #5717 Charcoal floor vase. Reasonable offers welcomed. Otherwise next week it's going on eBay.

Good Morning Glass

Our cats woke us up this morning at 5:30 AM demanding to be fed breakfast. We tried to ignore them, but there are three of them and only two of us. Karin and I were stumbling around bleary eyed trying to feed them. When Karin look toward the living room, she was struck by how it glowed even though the sun had not fully risen (contrary to how it appears). Anyway Karin grabbed a camera and snapped a photo (focused?) just to capture the moment as our glass "woke up".

Aug 21 -23 BLENKO GLASS CONVENTION

The event has tentatively been title Festival of Glass There will be several classes and demonstrations throughout the weekend. As it stands now registered collectors will have any class fees discounted. The visitors center will be full of goodies at great prices.

As for a special collectors piece here's the deal: 150 of the Blenko Celebration Pieces will be available for purchase on Saturday the 23rd at the Visitor’s Center. 150 will be sold over the phone and internet prior to Saturday; however the lowest numbers (1-150) will be allocated to the Visitor’s Center. This piece will be available on a first come first serve basis at the VC. The pieces will also be numbered and the mold will be struck after all 300 have been made. In addition a special paperweight will also be available to collectors at the visitors center. There are still a few surprises to be revealed. We have a tentative schedule, just as soon as everything is buttoned down we will get that out as soon as possible. Keeping checking for updates the news will be coming fast a furious.

It's days like this...

I often hear from non-collectors and some Blenko collectors as well. What motivates you getting out to flea markets, thrift stores and shops during the hot Texas summer? There are occasional days when you strike out, and then there are those when you get very lucky. It's days like this where we found several pieces of Blenko at ridiculously low prices that keep us looking.