What Is Daisy Glassware?

The Daisy

• The design is so simple, a child could draw it: A dot in the center surrounded by 15 or so spokes that fan out to create an unmistakable daisy flower. Indiana Glass used the daisy as a centerpiece on many of its tableware pieces but other designs featured smaller daisies circling the rims of plates, bowls, compotes, glasses and cups. Some of the most beautiful pieces feature rings of large or small daisies punctuated by scroll elements that surround plate and platter rims. Collectors look for the dominance of the daisy in the pattern, despite other elements, when they choose items for their personal glass libraries.

The Cuts

• Incised, pressed glass is no easy process to accomplish. Trained artisans must know as much about glassblowing and firing as they do about impressing goblets, plates and serving dishes with the artistic patterns that splash across the surface. Daisy cuts are made on the underside of plates and the exterior side of glasses and bowls, so the surface, reserved for food, remains smooth to the touch. For that reason, when you hand-wash a daisy plate or water glass, both sides of the piece require equal attention so no grime remains behind.

The Colors

• Like all Depression-style glassware, a collector can find daisy plates, relish dishes, goblets, dessert bowls and serving pieces in vivid colors, many of which signify the era in which they were made. From 1933 to 1940, Indiana Glass created a wealth of daisy-embellished glass in ruby red, but when amber became the hot color, the company switched to the honey-colored hue and also produced crystal clear pieces. Avocado, dark green and white milk glass pieces in signature daisy patterns debuted in the 1950s and 60s, when the company re-issued some of it's best-selling patterns from the '30s.

Pattern Pairs

• You won't find a piece of daisy glassware that's devoid of other designs and patterns, so when you peruse antique shops, flea markets and garage sales, look for unique pairings of daisies plus swirled and non-swirled cross-hatched patterns and unusual scroll work to ferret out the most lavishly designed pieces of daisy glassware. Many daisy glass serving pieces were also fabricated with feet, so in addition to those beautifully incised daisy and scroll patterns, you'll find tumblers, sugar and creamers and compotes atop beautifully-crafted pedestals.