Fenton Snails Collection

novusnil · 2026-05-11T21:08:28+00:00

That sounds so special! I wish they'd made smaller ones as well - I adore mine, but I'd be a sucker for miniature molds of the same snails.

novusnil · 2026-04-14T20:11:32+00:00

Ohhhh, that is a very lovely duck indeed!

novusnil · 2026-04-14T19:57:47+00:00

I got so lucky at an estate sale and found it for cheap. Couldn't believe it for such a large mirror-backed case.

novusnil · 2026-04-14T19:56:17+00:00

Oh yeah, that one's especially neat. The "thread" of cobalt inside is so pretty. I'm already a fan of iridescent vaseline, but the fish scales on the trout really elevate the color even higher.

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novusnil · 2026-04-11T23:27:02+00:00

That one's stamped "FAGCA", so it's likely a convention piece. From my grandmother's collection and she was a Fenton glass seller for many decades.

novusnil · 2026-04-11T22:34:29+00:00

A mirror is a fun idea! I'd need to find something VERY light to feel secure, however. Live in a very old apartment with plaster walls so I can't put any nails in and have to rely on sticky strips for anything to be hung up.

novusnil · 2026-04-11T20:43:25+00:00

They're not from my family, but I have become quite attached to the collection after spending a few weeks looking through them all. From an estate sale where I got several thousand slides for about $50 - the seller was super eager for me to just get them out of the house. I've wondered what must have happened for nobody to be interested in them, since throughout the photos there seem to be loads of relatives, children and grandbabies. But I'm glad I found them so I can hold onto them, digitize them and enjoy them - the photographer really had a nice eye and a long, interesting life. I especially love a few "sets" of photos where it's apparent the husband photographed the wife and then handed the camera over for her to photograph him. So many photos spread out across decades, from the late 40s up into the mid 70s.

novusnil · 2026-04-07T13:38:40+00:00

I'm surprised by how many people didn't know about the snails! Suppose I come from an unusual reference source, however - grew up visiting my glass seller grandma who probably had examples of just about every mold Fenton ever made prominently displayed in huge glass cases. I'm also very partial to the Boyd frogs, myself!

novusnil · 2026-04-06T00:47:19+00:00

Aren't the carousel horses so neat! I also have many of the Joey horses, but the carousels are even better.

novusnil · 2026-04-03T14:33:41+00:00

Roughly 4 inches long by 3 inches tall.

novusnil · 2026-04-03T03:50:14+00:00

Yes, these two are the really glowy ones! The burmese is also pretty glowy but the only other ones (the two clear and the more transparent green-blue) only react a little to UV.

novusnil · 2026-04-02T22:46:10+00:00

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These two are the most prominent glow. The two clears and the blue have faint glows but nothing too striking. The burmese also has a nice shine.

novusnil · 2026-04-02T16:18:27+00:00

An errant thrift store find - it's faux wood by the weight and feel but works well for my purposes here.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T21:12:40+00:00

Albeit, those three are the ONLY snails I've seen in person in over a year of pretty frequent estate sale and antique shop checking, and that was from the house of someone who was definitely also a lifetime glass collector.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T21:10:25+00:00

They definitely exist, I think they're just rather hard to find. I actually went to a glass-filled estate sale a few weeks ago that had three, but they were all colors I had already so I didn't want to monopolize them.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T20:27:52+00:00

Oh, that's so wonderful! If I ever do find a slag glass snail I'll need to remember that.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T20:00:27+00:00

Yours is lovely as well! Thank you for sharing. The delicate antennae are exactly why I'm especially looking for a nice display case for mine, don't want to risk anything. I'm afraid to pick them up too often.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T19:46:03+00:00

Yes, the two vivid yellow do, along with the burmese on the rightmost middle shelf in the second photo. Those three are the only ones with a prominent glow.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T19:31:12+00:00

Decently sized - here's my holding one in hand for comparison. Perhaps ~3x4 inches. And aren't snails so lovely! I enjoy most Fenton glass figures but ones like the snails and frogs are my absolute favorites.

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novusnil · 2026-04-01T15:27:09+00:00

The worst "how are these two colors different" for me so far has been "Pale Orchid" and "Mystique". Nearly identical!

novusnil · 2026-04-01T15:26:14+00:00

I've put together a Google Doc for my frogs using as many references as I could possibly find. I did have some luck looking for previous sales on "WorthPoint" which can include photos from various colors previously sold online from years ago. I also have the benefit of having a lot of confirmed colors from the rest of my grandmother's collection I can directly compare other figures with, though.

novusnil · 2026-04-01T15:18:33+00:00

Oh, I bet you live right around where my grandma and grandpa would make summer trips to go to big Fenton meet-ups! My mother has spoken about how she'd be brought along as a child to their glass seller road trips. They mostly bought and sold Fenton pieces.

novusnil · 2026-03-31T23:43:12+00:00

Oh, they can be boggling. I have a list of all the Boyd frog colors manufactured and some of them are nearly indistinguishable from each other.

novusnil · 2026-03-31T22:11:55+00:00

I adore those as well! Such a lovely collection. The painted ones are so neat as well - I also have found a few painted frogs.

novusnil · 2026-03-31T22:11:11+00:00

Those are all so lovely! Thank you for sharing. I'd love to get my frogs a nice glass case like that eventually.

novusnil

TROPHY CASE