By George Chapogas Back to The Chapogas Glass Home Page The Oregon Vintage Times Home Page What does Chapogas Glass Have For Sale??   Peachblow! This has to stop!!! A new glass friend of mine, Mary Harting, Antique dealer at Carriage House Antiques in Oakland Oregon (she specializes in fine Victorian furnishing and has more than once sold a piece before I could get my hands on it) called me. She told me that a gentleman from Sutherlin had been shopping in Cottage Grove antique shops and had bought a vase for $5 that looked suspiciously like a vase on the cover of a book that I had twisted Mary’s arm to purchase. The book was the new Hobbs and Brockunier book (Bredehoft) which I am sure you can find or order at the Antique Peddlers in Springfield or from the book lady at the Eugene Piccadilli flea market. The piece was actually a deep caramel version of Wheeling Peachblow. Yep, a deeply colored Wheeling Peachblow Morgan vase found in Cottage Grove for $5 bucks. I have spent considerably more for the counseling I needed to deal with the shock. While the piece was without the amberglass Winged Griffin stand which would push the price to well over $1,000, it was still a piece worth much more than $5. The Wheeling  Morgan vase was a glass rendering of the famous Peach Blow porcelain vase sold for the astounding sum (at the time) of $18,000 by the estate of Mary Morgan in 1886. The color was supposed to have been that of crushed strawberries. Journals of the era refereed to the piece as “pug-ugly ceramic art, and to Ms. Morgan as the “crazy widow Morgan”.
 So what is Peachblow? Peachblow by definition is blown glass that is treated with a variety of chemicals causing the colors to become heat sensitive and then reheating portions of the glass to cause a shading from one color to another. Peachblow when broken shows the color change throughout the piece. It is not cased or flashed, or layered. Many types of glass change colors and not all Peachblow is extremely valuable, but we all should be able to identify the basic top 4  types of Peachblow so no more $5 dollar deals are found in Cottage Grove!!
 The rarest most valuable Peachblow is Mt Washington’s. Made only from 1886
until 1888, and never a popular seller Mt Washington Peachblow in rare shapes with hand-painted English verse is now sometimes selling in the $15,000 to $35,000 range. Mt Washington Peachblow shades from a very delicate pink to a pale bluish gray. Reproductions are not subtle in color.  Original production actually is a simple variance from Mt Washington’s Burmese formula. For peachblow, cobalt or copper oxide was used instead of uranium oxide.
 New England Peachblow was made only from 1886 to 1888 by New England glass and was originally called Wild Rose. Beautiful, delicate, some in glossy, most in satin. New England’s version shades from a light raspberry or pink to bone white. Wild Rose was produced by mixing opal glass with gold-ruby, and reheating after forming causing the color changes. This glass is slightly less rare and inexpensive pieces like the glass darner and pear can be found in the $100 range if perfect. While rarer pieces like cruets and tall Lilly vases go up to $1,500.
 Wheeling peachblow, the first Peachblow most likely first done in 1883,  was made by Hobbs and Brockunier before 1888. It’s amberina-like colors shade from a mahogany or fuschia, to a bright yellow. It begins with transparent amber glass treated with gold salts causing the glass to become temperature sensitive, and a white casing made of opal glass. Color variety is huge since there are many different treatments and finishes. Almost all Wheeling has a cased white lining on the inside. Please buy a book before investing. For example note the identical cruets in ovoid shape pictured. The darker piece, done on purpose and adorned with a darker amber handle and stopper is the same piece as the other cruet, but still is very different in color.
 Webb, and Steven’s and Williams  made English versions of New England Peachblow shading from cherry  to sometimes a creamy yellow. Besides the different shapes and molds Webb used they also made many more glossy pieces and pieces with applique. Continental pieces command far lower prices and are much more difficult to sell.
 Other types of peachblow include New Martinsville, which made a great variety of colors, and a modern version by Gunderson. The top 3 though are where the real money is and learning a little about each, and taking the time to touch and feel when you get to see a piece will prevent costly mistakes.
 So what about all those bowls, vases, and rose bowls that are inexpensive and shade from one color to another? Those items are almost always made with two separate layers or types of glass and are not true Peachblow. In fact most are modern. So buy books, look for Peachblow at shows and ask to see and feel it. Always look for knowledgeable long-standing dealers. Just one quality piece, if you find one, can be an entire collection’s worth of beauty.
George (541) 485-8601 or gcblues@aol.com