The Top Ten Wexford moments for 2020? Honestly, it’s closer to a Top Five list with a six-way tie for fifth place, but here we go:
Number Ten: The Gathering of Parts for Homemade “Cobble”ware
None of these parts were found with Wexford glassware, but a few used Early American Prescut (EAPC) also by Anchor Hocking. The goal is to create my own custom “cobble”ware (my own word for frankensteining Wexford into functioning trophy-esque loving cups. This year led to gathering enough parts (including missing crystals) to move forward with the project phase.
from Anchor Hocking’s Fire-King and More by Gene Florence both stand as the inspiration
for my own custom-made “cobble”ware
Read more about the Wexford scales here.
Number Nine: The Scalloped Bowls
I have collected Wexford by Anchor Hocking for over a decade. I had found exactly one scalloped bowl thrifting through all that time. This past year was the first time I found any of the scalloped bowls readily for sale online. This is also the year I learned there were so many; three different sizes, plus the candle holder that I only knew about through the Fire-King book.
The biggest surprise among the scalloped bowls was the existence of the large salad bowl. Details on the different sizes are here.
Number Eight: The Secretary/Hutch
The first of two entries that are about displaying Wexford instead of an item of Wexford. This is an incredibly cool piece of furniture, perhaps even the single neatest piece of furniture I have ever owned, even if it is likely missing the top section.
One of a very few purchases from Facebook’s Marketplace, I picked this sweet thing up on my way home from work, just weeks before the COVID shutdown. Any fraction larger and it wouldn’t have fit in the back of the Prius. As it were I crept home on surface streets due to the constant beeping of the hatch that wouldn’t latch shut. But what a score!
At this point, this piece has become the home of most of the flashed color Wexford pieces that we are less likely to use practically due to their rarity.
Number Seven: Sorbet-Style Candle Holder
The Fire-King book taught me that there was such a thing, and that they were already hard to find when the second edition was printed in 2002. I always check the candlestick shelves when I go thrifting, but have only ever found them online. Recently, I find them increasingly more often. Their rarity is why they get their own position on this list instead of being lumped in on Number Nine.
This piece is the same mold as the smallest scalloped bowl, the sorbet cup, with the addition of a raised ring in the bottom of the cup for a taper candle or peg votive. Having arrived at a place where the number of Wexford I feel compelled to buy has dropped dramatically, I have allowed myself the occasions to pay a bit more for harder to find pieces. That said, I still have limits and have the patience to wait out a deal. When nothing is selling online, it is easy to assume they are over-priced. When sellers offer a price reduction every time I like/heart/favorite/save an item, I know that it is a buyer’s market, and I give myself the time to find the listing that I like best.
Number Six: Color Flashed Wexford
This is for all the remaining colored Wexford that don’t have their own entries further down this list (except the later years lighter green, which seems to be dipped color instead of flashed in a kiln, and therefore incredibly unstable and disappointing).
The flashed colors were never a huge part of the overall Wexford production, except maybe Pewter Mist, so finding them always comes with a sense of wonderment. The colors are captivating and lush.
flashed color, including most glassware and many big serving pieces
Number Five: FABRIKÖR Display Cabinet
The second of two display pieces on this list, FABRIKÖR was a perfect fit in our small tv room. All display and minimal frame, it’s a great piece for displaying the larger scale Wexford serving pieces.
Number Four: Gold-Banded Wexford
So, this group came into existence this past February when I received a text from a BFF back in Ohio, when her daughter took her thrifting in Columbus. She included this photo:
“Yes!”… She is keeping is safe wrapped and tucked in a closet in Strongsville, Ohio. In the meantime, I have been gathering the set to go with it. What is the point of a decanter without the proper glassware?
Recently, I found verification of the gold band used for Wexford: it is 24k gold, which is nice to know for certain.
Number Three: Cobalt and Holiday Green Cake Stands
This year brought both colors of cake stand into the fold. Including the clear “Crystal” cake stand, I am uncertain who needs three cake stands, but they are glorious!
Number Two: The Authentic and Complete Lazy Susan
Admittedly, this thoroughly neat piece might only be this high on the list because I found it yesterday. It is completely exciting though…
Read the details here.
Number One: The Unlisted Color (Amber Mist?)
What could be more important on such a list than the color you never knew existed? Never knew to look for? That your source never even mentioned? I present to you, in the Number One spot, Amber Mist:
Back in October (it feels like years) I fell across an Etsy listing with a color I had never seen. The number one lesson of thrifting/resale: if you want it, buy it when you see it. So, I did.
It has a gradient, a unique feature among the flashed colors of Wexford. It has an iridescence similar to Pewter Mist, and also includes fine 24k gold banding, which I have not seen in any other flashed colors. Even with the exciting newness of the lazy susan, these goblets are by far the most impressive Wexford thing to find its way to us this year.
wexford: a study 