Purple Glass/Sabi Saturday week 2

My mother collected purple glass. Let me rephrase that. My mother COLLECTED PURPLE GLASS. The mantle was full of bowls, carafes, vases and chunks of purple glass. There was too much purple glass for just the mantle, the stuff was lined up on a desk next to the fireplace. Some glass was new, some antique, but all collected dust, so once, maybe twice a year, she and I would take the purple glass bowls, carafes, vases and chunks off the mantle and desk to wash and dust…carefully.

One time when we were in the midst of our yearly dusting and cleaning I asked her how it came that she chose to collect all this glass, specifically purple glass. She said she did not really know, but in short order people kept giving her purple glass as gifts. Collectors often say the collecting took on a life of its own, so this answer did not surprise me.

Being the only girl, all of my mother’s belongings became mine. I took some purple glass and my oldest brother sold the rest on eBay, I think. My middle brother and his wife were disappointed their daughters did not get any of their grandmother’s purple glass, so I packed most of mine up and gave it to them. I have just a few pieces and I am fine with that, because I know something about all that purple glass no one else knows…my mother didn’t even like purple!