Ask the Antiques Expert

By Jeff Hembel
Antiques Appraiser

What are your heirlooms and country antiques worth? Our expert will tell you, and reveal some of their interesting history, too.

Q: My mother, now almost 101 years old, remembers this bowl in her childhood home. The name on the bottom is Northwood, and it has no chips that I can find. I’d love to know more about it.–D.K., Neoga, Illinois

A: Your piece is custard glass, made in England as early as the 1880s. Patterns were often highlighted in gold with enameled colors and stains.

Custard glass glows under black light, thanks to uranium salts that also give the opaque glass its creamy color. The more uranium used, the more luminous the color. Some glassmakers used enough that their pieces were deep yellow.

Your piece originated with Harry Northwood, who used smaller amounts of uranium salt. Pieces from his Pennsylvania company, established in 1898, are marked with a distinctive script logo. This is a master berry bowl in the chrysanthemum sprig pattern. Made between 1900 and 1910, it was part of a set that also included 6 to 8 individual bowls.

Today your Northwood master berry bowl is valued at $250-$300.