Vintage Indiana Glass Amber Bowl… Garland or Teardrop? What You Might Not Know!

I recently listed this amber coloured Indiana Glass compote over at Audrey Would, and wanted to address a little confusion that surrounds this popular pressed glass piece.

There were two variations of the scalloped-rim design produced in a range of colours. This amber option is referred to as ‘Garland’. The other design is commonly known as ‘Teardrop’ and it features single droplets opposed to these clusters of three.  The interesting thing is neither one, Garland or Teardrop, represent the actual patterns Indiana Glass produced between 1940 and 1970 by those names, and yet Indiana glass marketed this piece by the pattern names! Confusion.

And just to add to the confusion… this stand-alone piece was also marketed as the ‘Decorator Bowl’ and sold at home parties by Tiara… back in the day! Simply put, this bowl was made to be decorative and is in name-only part of either pattern line. Further, it’s understandable why there’s this much confusion, because the packaging says so! If you are lucky enough to find this piece with its original box, you will see ‘Garland’ right on the box itself. Why wouldn’t you think that was the pattern name?

Just for fun, here are a few mock-ups featuring how versatile this decorator bowl with its history is!