Dugan / Diamond Violet Basket
by Jerry & Cleo Kudlac

A number of baskets were made by Dugan/Diamond including some of the more desirable ones such as ones made from the Stippled Petals and Ski Star patterns.  Others include the two handled Beaded Basket, Big Basket Weave and the Tree of Life.  Whimsy baskets were also made from the Stork and Rushes tumbler with an applied handle.   One of the more common baskets is the Violet basket found primarily in marigold with and without applied handles.  

Over the years, we have seen a number of the Violet baskets in antiques malls, but were never interested in one until recently.   We were on our way to a carnival glass auction, and as always, we stop at various antique malls on the way. One of our usual stops was a small town antique mall where a Violet basket caught my eye.  Actually, it was the silver basket that contained the Violet basket that first got my attention.   The Violet basket was shaped into a basket without an applied handle and it fit very nicely in the silver handled basket in which it was displayed.

I checked the silver basket and then removed the Violet basket which was dark marigold.  Then I noticed the non-iridized base was not the typical crystal clear glass, but a lime- green color.  Anytime we go to an antique mall, I always carry a small flashlight type of black light.  A quick check revealed that it glowed very bright under the black light.  Now, I was not only interested in the silver basket, but also, the Violet basket which had only one price tag.  I checked with the mall owner to see if the one price tag included both items and it did. Needless to say, this was a Violet basket that I could not turn down.   

So far, I found very little information written about the Violet basket other than as a pressed glass item used to made Violet baskets, swung vases and whimsy Jack-in-the Pulpit vases.  It has been found in marigold, amethyst and blue, but there was no mentioned of it being found in the Lime-Green Vaseline color.   I am glad I took a second look; as we now have a Violet basket with an unusual base color displayed in a nice silver basket; and best of all, it is not like the many others that we have seen before.