Never Say Never

If the above maxim were more studiously applied by researchers in the course of their work it would go a great way towards reducing the number of errors that creep into published work.

For a number of years, Lori and I were both under the assumption that Abels, Wasserberg & Co. (AWCO) never used transfer work (decals) on any of their wares. We were certain that any scenic or geometric decoration (other than glazes on pottery) would be hand painted and that AWCO would never lower themselves to selling transfer decorated items.

In November of 2003, an auction on eBay listed three Schumann decorated plates, all with Charleton labels. We had previously acquired one hand painted Schumann plate and it is shown in our book. This was only the second time we had seen a Schumann/Charleton auction and we won the bid. The relatively well known Carl Schumann factory operated in Arzburg, Germany (Bavaria) from 1881-1996 but evidently their sales to AWCO were very small.

When the plates arrived we inspected them closely and discovered that the decorations were transfers! So much for staking out the shaky territory we had earlier claimed and we now had to acknowledge a new facet of this company's wares which must be considered when making attributions. We already knew that Abels in its later years did turn to items that were decorated prior to their arrival at the factory in NY. Now, even though very limited in production, we know that transfer items must be included in their ever expanding catalog.

As U.S. tariffs were lowered on imports in the 1950s it became increasingly more difficult for AWCO to compete with other American firms who relied exclusively on these imports as their stock in trade. Walter Abels presciently wrote an article warning about this impact on American companies in the October, 1943, issue of China and Glass entitled, "Dikes Against the Postwar Flood."

It would not be too much of a stretch to imagine that when facing lower prices and stiffer competition that AWCO was petitioned by its distributors (or it became obvious by a drop in sales) and it became apparent that they needed to offer lower price goods in their line to maintain their market share. This would only be possible by importing already decorated items to which a Charleton label would be attached and then redistributed through its retailers.

Hand decorating items in your own factory (as opposed to importing them) was a very labor intensive operation. First you must develop the right pattern and prepare samples for each work station. Then the items were decorated (and copious amounts of gold leaf was often utilized) and fired. Then they had to be inspected and labeled and packed for shipment. Inventory control was much more difficult due to the breadth of the decoration used on various glass manufacturer's blanks. Entire suites of pieces from numerous glass makers were painted with the same decoration, quite a task to manage efficiently. Labor and operating costs were considerably higher in NYC than what their competitors paid in war ravaged Europe.

Unfortunately, Abels imported very few finished items that compared with their in-house decorated wares. Walter Abels (who was in failing health the last years that AWCO was in business) was very displeased with this influx of lesser quality goods in the last years of the company's operation and seemed relieved in the end to be done with it.






Schuman for Charleton transfer decorated plates. Note the difference in blanks.

Chinoiserie

Chinoiserie: a style in art (as in decoration) reflecting Chinese qualities or motifs; also : an object or decoration in this style - Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary

Chinoiserie is a broad appellation we have given to a variety of Charleton items that the reflect oriental motifs. Although some of these items may actually be imported from Asia, others may be imports from European countries or American pieces decorated with an oriental theme.

Oriental influences became popular with many homemakers after WWII and AWCO sold a broad range of items to satisfy the growing demand in the mid-1950s. Abels even created a subset of items within the Charleton Line called the "Charleton Kyoto Collection". These items are pictured in a Charleton advertisement in the trade periodical, The Gift and Art Buyer, from July, 1956. We have not been able to find any pieces from this ad nor do we know if they received special labeling as did other AWCO imports from Japan.



Here is the special Charleton label that has been found on some imports from Japan. These labeled items were already decorated prior to importation.





A few of these Japanese imported items.





A few Chinoiserie items decorated in the AWCO studio in NYC.

Who was Gemma Travers?

Who was this artist?

Pieces decorated by this decorator turn up infrequently, but often enough to know that if it was a "cottage" operation then her output was of some significance.

She only used Fenton blanks and her decorations bear strong similarity to Beth Weissman's Roses and Bows. Any connection between the two entities besides the similarity of style is unknown. So far pieces have turned up on Fenton's Silver Crest, Peach Crest, and Diamond Optic Ruby Overlay blanks. Shapes are quite varied ranging from vases to baskets and vanity sets.

Her decorations were painted on a professional level, the designs were well balanced and executed with a trained eye and hand. She used both china and enamel paints and both were fired for durability. The gold leaf is duller than that seen on Beth Weissman or Charleton pieces. This difference in lustre may indicate a lesser quality gold leaf or a different formula or process altogether.

The larger, flamboyant signature is quite different than most signed pieces from other decorators of this period and hers are always executed in a Burnt Sienna color of china paint. One piece, a vase, is signed on the neck leading one to believe this artist had a lot of freedom in personal promotion. Theoretically, I think these factors point to a productive cottage industry operating on a higher scale both in quality and quantity than most.

Unlisted Consolidated Artist

Here is a fine example of a Consolidated factory decoration that is sometimes mistaken for being Charleton Roses. This is Consolidated's #1510G Roses on a six inch Con Cora #3758/59 biscuit jar.

Also of interest is that the decorator signed their initials, "RS", in the decoration. This signing is infrequent and "RS" is not one of the decorators listed in Jack Wilson's Phoenix & Consolidated Art Glass 1926-1980 (a must have book for many Charleton collectors).

The Glass Menagerie frrom Heisey

Although offering glass and porcelain animals from other firms, Abels relied most heavily on Heisey for glass animals to decorate. Although some Heisey collectors are purists and prefer their glass with only factory decoration (if any), they are in the minority as witnessed by the many Heisey collectors who often post strong bids on these little animals. Here are a few from the Heisey animal farm.

A Few From Fostoria

You don't see a lot of Charleton/Fostoria out there - but what does surface usually has an above average decoration. Having an exceptional clarity of glass "blanks" like Fostoria produced seems to have inspired the designer and decorator.

Charleton Lamps

Abels, Wasserberg & Co. were the largest lamp distributor in the USA for a number of years. Business was so strong that at one point they were refusing new orders and had a backlog of orders that created months of delays in shipping.

In no particular order - here are a few of their offerings.

Consolidated Martele Line "Five Fruits"

Here are three different Charleton treatments of Consolidated's "Five Fruits" pattern from their Martele offerings.

Carstens of West Germany

Here are a few pieces of Charleton/Carstens pieces. Carstens was a West German pottery manufacturer whose wares are becoming more and more collectible. We found our first piece several years ago and until we actually found a piece with its original Carstens label we had no idea as to the name of the manufacturer.

I recently initiated contact with Forrest Poston, a very knowlegable collector of WG pottery and he replied to my inquiry in part..."This is the first evidence that any W. German pottery was imported directly into the US, although a significant amount went into Canada."

Unknown Maker on Leaf Bowl

Approximately 6" high, this hand painted bowl is the only one we have documented to date. We suspect the blank to be imported, perhaps Scandinavian or Polish.

New decoration on Cambridge Torte Plate

This is the first time we have seen this particular decoration on any Charleton piece. It is the fourth known style of decoration to be found on Cambridge Crown Tuscan torte plates.

Although the decoration is moderately worn it is in decent shape for being sixty years old.