Fire King "Laurel" pattern reproduced in Jade-ite

New Laurel pattern cup and saucer in imitation Jade-ite. Found in an antique mall in California. As of now, no other shapes of new Jade-ite have been found.

Reproduction Jade-ite Laurel pattern cups and saucers were first found in April 1999. The reproductions were discovered in a mall in California.

Original Laurel was made by Fire King, a division of Anchor Hocking glass, from 1951-1965. The most common colors are gray, peach lustre and ivory white. Ivory is less common and the rarest of all colors is Jade-ite, a pale green. So far, the only confirmed authentic piece of Fire King Jade-ite is an eight ounce cup. No authentic saucer or other shapes in Fire King Jade-ite are known.

Current prices for original Laurel cups are about $3-$4-$5 respectively for peach, gray and ivory white; $6 for ivory and more than five times that amount, $35 for the rare Jade-ite cup. The new cup and saucer set was purchased for $15.

There are several features that separate old from new. First, both new cup and saucer have strange marks on the bottoms of the bases. These include a raised molded diamond and a series of raised molded numbers. Marks from a typical saucer are shown in Fig. 2. The numbers vary from piece to piece but the general arrangement is the same, a diamond and a series of numbers.

So far none of the numbers match any Fire King catalog numbers. The original Laurel eight ounce cup catalog number, for example, is 4379; the 5¾″ saucer catalog number was 4329. Original Laurel cups and saucers are marked in raised molded lettering as shown in Fig. 3.

Next, look at the saucer. New saucers do not have a cup rim (a raised molded circle in the center that holds the cup). Original saucers have a cup rim (see illustrations below).

New pieces are also more transparent than old. You can almost read newspaper headlines through the new pieces tested for this article.

Fig. 2 Bottom of reproduction saucer. Raised molded numbers and marking. The numbers vary from piece to piece. Note that the numbers are reversed. Similar markings appear on new cup; marks on new cups are right reading.

Fig. 3 Bottom of original saucer. Raised molded lettering "Fire King, Oven Ware, Made in USA". The same mark appears on bottom of old cup. Variation of mark may include "Oven Proof". All original marks are right reading.

Fig. 4 New saucers do not have a cup rim; the center of the plate is smooth.

Fig. 5 Old saucers have a cup rim molded into the center.