Cobalt blue People’s Vase finds a permanent home at Millersburg Glass Museum
This cobalt blue People’s Vase was purchased for $155,000 at auction and now resides in the Millersburg Glass Museum in Millersburg, just three-tenths of a mile from where it was made more than 100 years ago.
In “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. went on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Instead, he ended up finding enlightenment.
Chris Sieverdes, director of the Millersburg Glass Museum, had his own quest recently, and while he too found enlightenment, he returned home with his Holy Grail.
Sieverdes recently traveled to Marietta in search of purchasing a very rare and expensive piece of Holmes County history, and he got his artifact, a Millersburg Glass cobalt blue People’s Vase that he purchased for $155,000, outbidding several others who also were seeking to take home the piece of carnival glass, one of eight known People’s Vases.
While Sieverdes wielded a checkbook instead of a fedora and a whip, it was almost as though his prize was something Indiana Jones would have gone on a quest to find, and once he set his mind on bringing the Holy Grail of Millersburg Glass back to Holmes County, nobody was going to stop him.
“I sat up front. I didn’t pay any attention to anyone behind me who was bidding, and I kept bidding because I wanted it,” Sieverdes said of the cobalt blue vase. “I wanted it very badly. I had my mind made up enough so that I had the paperwork in place beforehand to have the money available, and I had every intention of coming home with it. I didn’t know what it would sell for, but I was excited about bringing it home.”
When Sieverdes offered the final bid and was awarded the vase, those in attendance broke into applause. Sieverdes said he turned, stretched out his arms, bowed to the crowd and said, “This baby is coming home to Millersburg. It is now within three-tenths of a mile of where it was constructed, so it is finally home again.”
Bidders from Texas, Michigan, Canada and more had traveled to Marietta to take a stab at purchasing the rare vase. “This makes the Millersburg Glass Museum that much more attractive because we are talking about adding some real value to the collection,” Sieverdes said.
Part of the vase’s appeal is its beauty, but the story behind the vase is equally important. According to Sieverdes, Millersburg Glass owner John Fenton was commissioned to create 10 People’s Vases in 1910 for the royal family in the Netherlands. The vases were in honor of Queen Wilhelmina, who after eight miscarriages finally had a baby girl, Julianna, who later became queen.
There was reason to celebrate because there was now a queen to carry on the family’s royal lineage. Fenton designed the 10 vases with Dutch people dancing in the streets because of the birth of their new heir to the throne.
During World War II, the royal family, Julianna as their queen, fled to Canada for safety and reportedly brought all 10 vases.
Over time these vases trickled down into America, where they found new homes. Today eight of them are known including two in Pennsylvania, four in North Carolina, one other one in the Wayne-Holmes area and the new addition to Millersburg.
Sieverdes said the whereabouts of the other two People’s Vases are unknown, but he believes they have been destroyed. He also said he would like to purchase a green People’s Vase from the owner in North Carolina and make a bookend set of two for the museum.
“I think I could stop then,” Sieverdes said with a laugh. “I appreciate the legacy and the history of these pieces. The molds are gone. They are difficult to track the history because there is no paperwork, and John made each piece unique because he wanted people to recognize his glass by the look. He was an artist first and foremost, and he created some incredible glass that has become the finest in the world.”
The People’s Vase is widely considered the most highly sought after, expensive piece of carnival glass in the world. Sieverdes said bringing one back to Millersburg is a true thrill for him and for the museum board and members.
On Saturday, Oct. 6 Sieverdes was back home in Millersburg for the annual Millersburg Glass auction that coincides with the Holmes County Antique Festival that took place at Harvest Ridge.
While the pieces he purchased at the Millersburg auction don’t carry the hefty price tag the cobalt blue People’s Vase does, they are still valuable and beautiful additions to the Millersburg Glass Museum’s growing inventory.
This particular sale featured Vaseline glass, a unique and rare glass that is highly sought by collectors. A number of Vaseline pieces went for a nice price at the Millersburg auction.
A 9-inch Millersburg Glass Vaseline square bowl with a whirling leaves pattern went for $13,500. A one-of-a-kind 9-inch Vaseline zig zag ruffled bowl scattered with pink and blue hues throughout sold for $16,500, and Sieverdes purchased a Millersburg Carnival Glass rose column piece with blue iridescent highlights for $7,000. Many other pieces sold for between $300 and $1,500.
Sieverdes said he enjoys giving tours of the glass museum, allowing the former professor at Clemson University to continue to educate and entertain those who visit the museum.
“It’s a fascinating part of Holmes County history that I love sharing with others,” Sieverdes said. “The idea of bringing these beautiful pieces of history that are now more than 100 years old is exciting, but I don’t think anything compares to the People’s Vase.”