Special note to sellers of EAPG. Please feel free to download this pdf version of our
attempt to educate buyers by clicking on this little icon . It is a much
appreciated page of information you can include when mailing EAPG to customers.
God bless you for helping to educate others & stamp out this awful practice.
  So, is all purple glass old?
             In a word, "NO!"
 
    Well then,is all "sun-purple" colored glass old?
               In a word, "MAYBE"-- 		 
   
Please study these 3 photos carefully......
---Above are 2 creamers in the EAPG pattern, ROSE POINT BAND. The one on the right
is the beautiful clear glass and the one on the left has been artificially turned a washed-out purple.
---Above is a color plate from an L. E. Smith Glass Co. current production catalog. Reproductions of Early American Pattern Glass in the exact color of the "sun-purpled" pieces are now being sold. And Arcoroc is making pressed glass in a color they call "Antique amethyst" -- so the color can NOT be trusted to tell the age of pressed glass. ---Above is a grouping of beautiful genuine amethyst color EAPG in Swag with Brackets, Croesus, Argyle,Hobnail and Cathedral patterns.
Has all "sun-purpled" glass turned that color by the sun?
      In a word (or 2)   "ABSOLUTELY NOT"! It is most often turned purple by putting it in a box for a few weeks under a lamp which was intended to kill germs by ultraviolet radiation. That is why we have "sun-purpled" in quotation marks. **
Does all old glass naturally turn purple in the sun?
       Some does and some doesn't. It depends on what the meaning of "old" is and what the glass formula is. Some will tint slightly if stored near a sunny window and this is regarded by antique glass folks as "discoloration". All discolored antique glass is devalued which is why it is advisable to not store old glass where the rays from the sun can adversely affect it.
Is "sun-purpled" glass a good investment?
     On the contrary, it is tantamount to purchasing a piece of damaged glass and the value is decreased as though it had a serious crack or chip.
Why is clear Early American Pattern Glass being turned artificially purple?
     Because presumably the people who turn it purple don't care that they are ruining an historical artifact & the people buying it don't know that they are purchasing a formerly valuable, but now worthless, antique.

I'm told that the process of turning antique glass purple is not an important issue because the process is reversible by reheating the glass. So what's the big deal?
    Unfortunately your source for that information is not alone in believing that but is DEAD WRONG. Hundreds of folks have made that claim to us but not ONE has ever demonstrated a successful reversal to the original state of the Early American Pattern Glass. If you believe you will be the first, please properly document your effort and let us know. EMAIL US

PS We actually have had one response to this challenge which claimed to have successfully turned sun-purpled glass beads back perfectly clear.... at which point they were totally melted.....
One of the sad consequences is the incidence of fraudulently advertised "new" colors of a pattern.  Collectors have been known to purchase what they are told is a newly discovered color in their pattern and find after having paid a premium price for it that it has simply been "nuked".

For further discussion of the history and an
explanation of and destructive effects of purposeful ultraviolet
radiation on Early American Pattern Glass, click HERE
or click HERE to learn more about this historic American treasure.
To read an article about this issue in ALL ABOUT GLASS, click HERE.

**Please note that these comments re "sun purple" glass do not reflect negatively on folks who
have had EAPG for years and accidentally left it near a window allowing it to turn a
" tinge" of light pink or greyish purple but are directed at people who are purposfully turning great numbers of pattern glass pieces a deeper purple with a profit motive in mind..

Elaine & Bill Henderson of PatternGlass.com are charter members of the Early American Pattern Glass Society and long time members of the National American Glass Club.
     To inform sellers and buyers of pattern glass about the issues involved with color altering of antique glass, we offer the opportunity to download a FACT SHEET.  This sheet is appropriate to print out and hand to personnel in antiques shops and malls to increase their knowledge of Early American Pattern Glass and its place in American History.  To download this document in pdf file format, click on the tiny icon at left.

****For a totally demoralizing experience, click HERE to see what we saw
on a 4 day shopping trip to Arizona and California a few months ago.****

Not content with the mealy "sun" purple color, they turn old glass a deep, deep purple by some sort of radiological means according to the owner of this shop in east LA. It was difficult to photograph, but there are pieces of Early American Pattern Glass on these shelves the color of the jars, except the pattern glass is thicker so the color does not photograph as well and the thinner jars.
And Dallas is participating too.  Here are photos from a case in
a large antiques mall in Dallas in January 2006.  On the left are old
bottles and on the right are 2 EAPG cruets, a lamp and a fly catcher.