Carnival glass, also known as rainbow glass, is admired for its many colors, the most popular being marigold, followed by amethyst, blue, green and red. Carnival glass is the generic name for iridescent pressed glass, produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It has been made into bowls, dishes, glasses, jugs, punch bowls, hair accessories and hatpins.
This colorful art glass was made by pressing hot glass into a mold. The glass piece was then removed from the mold and sprayed with metallic salts, creating an iridescent rainbow effect. During production, the hot glass was also shaped, creating a multitude of patterns. Carnival glass products were elongated, pleated, ruffled or scalloped and also decorated with hand-made decorations. Some describe the iridescent rainbow illusion of Rainbow Glass to be like the colors seen when the sunlight hits oil in water.
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Iridescent glass, named Favrile, is a famous art glass patented by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1880. In 1907, a manufacturing company called Fenton created Carnival glass, which was a cheaper, generic version of Tiffany’s Favrile. Carnival glass became very popular due to the depression and World War II shortages. As Carnival glass became popular, the iridescent glass products created by Tiffany became less popular, and were no longer considered exclusive. Carnival glass is still admired by many and is the most widely collected form of art glass.
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