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How to Identify a Fenton Carnival Glass Mark

Carnival glass is pressed glass with an iridescent coating, manufactured mainly during the early half of the 20th century. The Fenton Art Glass Company produced most of their carnival glass from 1907 until the late 1920s, then in limited editions after 1970. The later reproductions contain the Fenton logo embedded into the bottom of the piece. Fenton did not embed their mark on the earlier carnival glass, though some pieces, made between 1921 and 1970, may have paper labels affixed to the bottom.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the bottom of the carnival glass piece to see if there are any markings. The piece must have an iridescent coating to be classified as carnival glass.
- 2
  Check to see if the Fenton logo, used from 1970 on their carnival glass, is stamped into the glass. This is the word "Fenton" with a script F, surrounded by an oval.
- 3
  Inspect the mark closely, as Fenton added further identifiers to denote the decade from 1980 to the present. These include a small number 8 (for 1980-1989), 9 (for 1990-1999), 0 (for 2000-2009) or 1 (for 2010-2019) just underneath the middle of the word "Fenton," inside the oval. The 75th, 80th and 90th anniversary logos include the anniversary number marked on the piece.
- 4
  Identify a paper label by the words "Fenton" or "Fenton Art Glass" printed on the face. This is sometimes accompanied by information that will help more closely date the piece, including the color and design. Fenton's website displays examples of these labels and the years they were used.

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