The Heisey Glass Show

After the museum, we went to the “39th Annual Premiere Glass Show & Sale with 40 prominent elegant glass dealers from across America” as per the Heisey Museum site at http://heiseymuseum.org/hca/convention where a large number of dealers were selling... you guessed it - Heisey! We saw Karen again at the show where she was equally charming and informative. What a sweetheart! There were some people I recognized from the flea market earlier in the day and I was able to spend a little more time talking to them at the show. One of my favorite dealers is Kim Carlisle, so nice and very knowledgeable. He had an impressive collection of Heisey glass for sale including some of the really HUGE candy jars. One of them actually sold while I was standing there and judging for what it sold for and how delighted the buyer was, they must be quite rare! In addition, Kim can work magic on "sick" glass as his ad on Kovels (just scroll down to Kim Carlisle) says "Cloudy glass cleaned: the inside of vases, decanters, cologne bottles, saltshakers, cruets, etc., cleaned." At the show he had a before and after example and it was quite amazing! Karen and James (I wrote about them previously) heartily endorse his work. Kim also shared some "tricks of the trade" with me, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you... ;) Just kidding, of course I'm going to tell you! Here's one anyway - only buy matched sugar and creamer sets. Heisey colors vary in shade and intensity and glass from different batches can be noticeably different when they are side by side. If you buy a sugar for example thinking that you will find a creamer later, it is nearly impossible to find an exact match. Here's another tip -Heisey glass isn't always marked on the bottom, sometimes the mark is on the side. On the syrups, the diamond H is on the handle. Of course, some Heisey isn't marked at all. None of the mold blown pieces are marked including the very collectible favor vases that can fetch up to $800 depending on the color, so it's definitely worth learning about these little beauties! Another fabulous thing about the show was that there were many of the same pieces that we had just seen at the museum. Right there in front of me. Where I could TOUCH them! Which I did, very carefully, usually just giving them an affectionate pat or two. With the more valuable and or rare pieces I just kept my hands behind my back. I wish I had more photos to share but I was so enraptured with the glass I completely forgot to take some shots of the most fabulous items such as a set of matching Hawthorne (I think)candelabras, 6 cups each if I remember correctly, and a massive tangerine punch set on a rotating pedestal - again, if I remember correctly. Next time I will be sure to use my camera instead of just carrying it around, obviously I can't count on my memory, lol! It was a wonderful adventure in Heiseyland and I'm looking forward to going again next year and maybe going to the select auction in October. I'll keep you updated!