Dorothy Thorpe began as a music student at University of Utah

I've been collecting and researching Dorothy Thorpe for about 10 years now and have an extensive collection of what I consider to be some of the most beautiful sand carved glassware. From time to time I'll contact eBay sellers about their pieces, mostly when they've misidentified a variety of flower or list something as Thorpe that isn't Thorpe.

Before I continue, I will provide a condensed biography of Dorothy C. Thorpe (source to be listed later today):

"Dorothy Thorpe began as a music student at University of Utah. During the depression, her husband's career suffered many reversals. Dorothy chanced upon a broken wine bottle in the street which was the beginning of her very successful career and her own glass designing and sandblasting company. Dorothy Thorpe was born January 5, 1901 and died August 4, 1989. While Dorothy is better known for her glass designing, she also designed dinnerware. Dorothy's work is seen on many types of Elegant glass including Heisey, Tiffin and more."

To help folks know what is and is not Thorpe, I thought I'd put this little guide together to help people understand what Dorothy Campbell Thorpe did and did not do, so they are less likely to be mislead about buying items listed as Thorpe, that are not Thorpe. :)

Most Importantly - Dorothy Thorpe DID NOT MANUFACTURE ANYTHING. Blank, undecorated glassware cannot be listed as Dorothy Thorpe because Thorpe did not manufacture Glass. Thorpe used existing glass made by any number of manufacturers and decorated that glass. The same applies to ceramics such as dinnerware. For those lines of stemware that Thorpe did design, she did not manufacture them. Instead, Thorpe bought large lots of blank dinnerware and decorated them.. There are very few items of stemware designed by Dorothy Thorpe for Dorothy Thorpe. There are a lot of Thorpe decorations on pieces by other makers though the debate over whether those pieces were not signed because they were designed for another maker or because they were overlooked rages on. Among those pieces are various and unique designs of stemware. Perhaps the most famous and highly prized stemware manufactured by Heisey was designed by Dorothy Thorpe. It is called "Hydrangea" and features a line of stemware with a base created in the form of a hydrangea flower. These were offered by Heisey in a few shades, they are truly beautiful. Not all Dorothy Thorpe Pieces are marked. This inconsistency has the capacity to drive some folks crazy when trying to differentiate Thorpe from other sand carved glass artists of the same period. In most cases, Thorpe sandblasted her trademarked logo into her pieces. The logo shows a small, upper-case D next to a larger upper case T which has an exaggerated top bar making the T go over the upper case D and a smaller, upper-case C opposite the D, on the other side of the center T. In some cases it will look like DTD but upon closer examination it looks like DTC. In some cases, Thorpe used a label. There does not appear to be any logic or reasoning behind which pieces were labeled or marked with the trademark logo. It is thought that pieces that missed the sand blast process were labeled, other thoughts are that it was simply what the company policy was at the time a particular piece was made while other pieces were decorated for the company who manufactured the glass. Like Grosz, Billie Rae and other artists of the time, including some Verlys for Heisey, these pieces would not be signed by the artist if offered for sale by the manufacturer. Dorothy Thorpe also decorated tableware for companies like Crown Lynn in New Zealand as well as several of her own lines. It is not uncommon to find sets of dinnerware with some plates marked with a manufacturer's mark as well as Dorothy Thorpe's mark and some dishes in the same set bear only the Dorothy Thorpe mark. Some people may be confused or think the plates with two markings are counterfeits. This is not the case at all. Simply, Dorothy Thorpe did not manufacture anything, she purchased blanks from any number of other companies and added her own stamp before decorated dinnerware was fired after decoration was applied. In the middle of the century, Dorothy Thorpe began to experiment with lucite and began to add it to some of her regular pieces as well as creating new pieces. Among the most common are the "pretzel" silver band candles. Recently, a number of lucite and glass items have been showing up such as glass cake trays with twisted lucite stands. Dorothy Thorpe did not manufacture these. There are no known examples of any Thorpe lucite and glass work that were not either part of her Allegro, Silver Band or sandblasted floral pieces. It's important to remember that Thorpe was a decorator, she did not make blank glassware. The pieces showing up on eBay are not Thorpe and they have no provenance.



When items appear that have never been seen before, and they are contrary to a known artist's typical method of operation, such as undecorated glass sitting on a piece of twisted or rolled lucite, you should be suspicious. The piece shown below, which literally appeared in abundance and was and is listed as Thorpe, is NOT Thorpe. In addition to her line of Silver Band, Thorpe also made a line called "Allegro". The difference in these designs is that Silver Band used a band of 1" sterling silver around the top rim of most pieces. Some serving pieces might have an additional line. This sterling will tarnish. Allegro used a band of metallic material that does not tarnish. Allegro has a mirror like appearance. That said, that is the only difference. The same 1" band would be applied to the top of the Allegro pieces. There are a number of West Virginia Glass pieces with a mirror finish that extends down most of the piece. Those are not Thorpe. Almost all barware in the Silver Band and Allegro lines had paper labels or foil labels. They are not sand etched with the logo. There is also a gold band decoration. Thorpe ceramic dinnerware most commonly seen is "Persimmon" and "Periwinkle" which are named for the colors used in the dishes and not the design itself. There are complete dinnerware sets with accompanying serving pieces in both decorations. There is also a crystal (clear) colored line known as "Spring Harvest" which is a transferware (not hand painted) decoration of spring flowers in a wreath around the plates, bowls and on serving pieces. Larger pieces will be signed with Dorothy Thorpe in yellow. Another Thorpe odd practice was taking some of their most popular decorations and stenciling them on to glass. This has been seen in the Thorpe Iris decoration which has been stenciled on to glass as well as sandblasted on to glass. The stenciled glass is not signed, but the pattern is identical. These likely came with a paper or foil label. As you can see from the photos above, the Iris dish on the left is a stencil, an exact replica of the sandblasted Iris dish to it's right. The stencil has color, the sand etch does not. Very few Thorpe pieces have color, but there are a number of smaller trays featuring iris and other flowers that have some pale greens, blues, pinks. etc. Resin: There are a number of resin pieces which bear labels marked Dorothy Thorpe, Inc. Mexico. Their date of manufacture is unknown and the fact that they were manufactured at all calls their authenticity into question. Also interesting is that none of these sculptures are of any of the flowers or floral items that Thorpe was best known for. Also interesting is that the label used is typically only seen on Silver Band or Allegro pieces in that they are white with silver lettering with a silver band around the edge. The labels say "Dorothy C. Thorpe, Inc. Mexico which implies that Dorothy Thorpe's company was located in Mexico. Otherwise, the items should say "Made in Mexico". In fact, Dorothy Thorpe's company was located in San Fernando, California and there is no reference in any biography about her ever doing resin pieces in Mexico. I consider these to be whimsies manufactured at some point after her death until I hear otherwise. Beware imitations! Companies are making new items that look nearly identical to old Thorpe decorations. This has already been seen in the Eucalyptus sand carved design on a brand new "Vintage Modern" piece by "Thomas O'Brien". It is a low quality item, the decoration poorly done and very cheap. But the inexperienced or beginning collector could be easily fooled. When paying for Thorpe pieces, the rule of supply and demand applies. I've been to one site with a floral etched glass and lucite tray is listed for $1,200, where I list the same item for $200. Allegro and Silver band are plentiful so there's no reason to spend a fortune with the exception of complete barware sets. A complete barware set, including stand and coasters, can be very hard to find, expect to pay more. The rule for Thorpe floral decorations is the larger the piece, the higher the price, the rarer the piece the higher the price. There are some very rare one of a kind pieces that command high prices. These include clocks, coffee pots, etc. If you're a collector, you know what you want to spend and you'll weigh the odds of finding the piece again. New collectors should stick to the more common pieces as they are easier to come by. Common pieces include Eucalyptus, Iris, Roses and Narcissus. Unommon pieces include Hibiscus and Pine. The most common decorations include: Poppies, Calla Lilies, and Azaleas. I am always happy to help anybody identify a flower or piece as I have a huge collection of my own. Rare and hard to find decorations are those etched into painted glass, and those etched into uncommon pieces like mirror.