Northwood, was founded in 1896 in Indiana, Pennsylvania by Harry Northwood,
an Englishman. He was the son of John Northwood, a prominent glassmaker and
art director of Stevens and Williams, an English glassworks. He immigrated
to America in 1880 at the age of 20. Before he founded his own company, he
had worked at several well-known glass companies as an apprentice. He joined
the National Glass Company in 1899, but then formed the Harry Northwood Glass
Company in 1901 in Wheeling, West Virginia. Also in 1901, he purchased Hobbs,
Brockunier and Company. For approximately three years, there were two Northwood
plants. In 1904, he sold the Indiana, Pennsylvania plant to its managers. It
later became the Indiana Glass Company.
In 1908 he started making iridescent carnival glass which soon became
his most popular product. They introduced design patterns such as grape
and cable, wild rose, leaf and beads, singing birds, beaded cable, and
peacock at the fountain. Northwood was also known for producing decorated
glass with gold and opalescent edges, custard glass, and goofas glass.
Harry's brother, Carl, was the creative partner, where Harry was more
business focused. Carl worked in the decoration area as the perfect
complement to Harry. The grape & cable pattern was produced as vases,
dishes, compotes, bowls, and accessories. Soon other companies began
copying their designs. Northwood also produced an assortment of
opalescent, decorated, and special effect glasses such as splatter
glass, iridescent blue, and green. In 1914, Northwood began producing
iridescent custard glass; a cream colored glass with pastel iridescent
overlay.
Harry Northwood died in 1923. The company closed in 1925.
MARKS
Northwood marked many of their pieces with an N in a circle or an N underlined,
but much of it was unmarked.
To view examples of Carnival Glass:
Tumblerworld.com
David Doty's Carnival Glass Website
RESOURCES:
Collectics.com
Schroeder's Antiques Price Guide - 18th Edition, 2000
Antiques and Dynasties
Official Price Guide to Glassware-First Edition-Mark Pickvet
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