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Color list for the “Sitting Cat” collectible figurine – mould #101, manufactured by Mosser Glass. It can be challenging to identify colors on the Mosser sitting cats for a number of reasons – beginning with sparse documentation from Mosser. The list is organized by color family, with descriptions and links to images where available. For consistency, nearly all of these photos, items from my personal collection, were taken in the same location under similar lighting conditions . (Where did I get this information?)
Glassmaking by hand is not an exact science! Many factors – before, during and after pressing – can affect the color(s) and transparency of the final product, even within the same batch. Glass from the bottom of the tank may differ from glass at the top because of prolonged heating or absorption of residue from previous batches. Also, over the years suppliers changed, sometimes formulas were changed while retaining the same name. or in some cases new names were given to existing colors.
Colors which were rerun in 2023 or later are flagged with an asterisk (*) above. These are all marked with an “M” in the state of Ohio on the lower back towards the right. The originals should have a plain “M” on the lower back towards the left, at the base of the tail.
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Red & Pink
†Pink
†Heirloom pink – Opaque light pink. Sold as Crown Tuscan in their catalog.
†Peachblo – Light pink-peach. – October 1981. Also in satin.
Red, also Red satin and Red iridized (2004)
†Ruby red
†Strawberry red – darker red, orange overtones
Strawberry slag (?)
†Black cherry – Very dark red, looks black unless held up to the light.
†Cranberry ice – Warm reddish pink
Cranberry Opal – Cranberry, with opalescent ears / feet / tail.
Rose – Darker pink. Reissued in 2024 in all 3 finishes
†Blazer / Harvest – (?)
†Red slag – Red, yellow and white slag – February 1990
†Fiesta – clear red, orange and yellow slag
†Wine – Orangish red and gold, translucent, body looks cloudy in some light.
†Twilight pink – very pale warm pink. UV reactive.
Pink opal – Pink with opalescent ears / feet / tail
†Pink wind frost – Pink /peach with heavy opalescence.
†Pink champagne iridized – Pink / peach carnival
†Tomato – November 1992
Yellow & Orange
†Vaseline – Greenish yellow “canary” uranium glass. Glows bright green in ultraviolet light. – March 1997. Also vaseline satin.
†Custard – Opaque light greenish yellow. Uranium glass, glows bright green under a black light.
†Jungle moss – Light greenish/yellow with streaks of red/orange slag. Not UV reactive.
†Honey – Light golden yellow
†Golden opaline – Golden yellow with opalescent ears.
†Buttercup – Yellow over an opaque core. Similar to Golden Opaline but darker.
†Mandarin Slag – Opaque white with streaks of orange and coral.
Moonglo – Vaseline with white slag, made in 1981
†Flame – Orange shading to gold. Has varying amounts of opalescence around the base / ears / face.
†Light yellow – Clear, pale yellow – September 1993
†Vaseline opal – Greenish yellow with opalescence on ears and feet. Clear and Cloudy variations.
†Clay – Opaque red-orange – March 1997
†Persimmon – Orangish-red.
†Pumpkin – November 1986 – This older color has an “M” on the pontil.
Candy corn – Glossy, satin and Candy corn iridized – Special order in 2008 for Rosso Glass. Color points are chemical reactions to heat, not slag.
†Tangerine iridized – Light orange carnival.
†Autumn
†Harvest or Blazer (see entry under Red)
Green
†Lemon lime swirl – Yellow-green (vaseline) with blue-white slag. – June 1981. Also made in an iridized version.
†Tiger eye – Yellow-green (vaseline) with streaks of reddish brown
†Irish mist – Pale warm green. Not UV reactive.
†Peppermint slag – medium emerald green with white slag. AKA Kashmir green in the collies and Jenny dolls.
†Apple green – light green. Also made in satin.
†Emerald green
†Hunter green – Darker green with a blueish cast. Glossy, satin and †iridized finishes. This formula changed in later years.
†Ice lime iridized – Light green carnival
†Lime – Opaque medium yellow-green
†Green banana – Pale yellowish green opaque, may have tinges of brown. Greenish variant of custard glass. Glows bright green under UV light.
†Sea breeze – Light greenish carnival – uv reactive, M on the bottom.
†Green wind frost – Very light green with heavy opalescence. – June 1991
†Green slag – (Sometimes called “Moss green slag” or “dark green slag”) – Opaque green, black, white slag. Lots of variation. Made in 1991.
†Green milk – Opaque medium green. Somewhat reminiscent of creamed spinach.
†Green and milk slag – opaque medium green and white
†Jadeite * / †Sea foam – Cool, light grayish green. Jadeite is a relatively “flat” color, Sea foam has some color variation. Short run reissued with the newer mark in 2023 (Miriam’s Timeless Treasures.)
†Green opal – Light green opalescent. The base color changed over the years, some are lighter and some are darker. Also Green opal satin and †Green opal iridized.
†Teal – Blue-green, clear and satin finish. Also listed in †Teal iridized.
Winter Green – White and light green slag.
Brown
†Amber – Brown “root beer” glass
†Light Amber
Dark Amber – Might have another name, believed to be a special order
†Calico – Brown, red, (blue?) and white slag. Also Calico Satin. Highly variable color. Brownish vs reddish ones sometimes called “brown calico” and “red calico.” The photo shows a range of colors.
†Chocolate (older – dark) – Chocolate brown slag. – March 1982. This is the “older” chocolate and will probably have the “M” on the pontil.
†Chocolate (newer- light) – This is the newer / lighter chocolate, issued in 2001.
†Taffy – Light warm brown opaque.
†Jasmine also Jasmine Satin.
Butterscotch slag – also Butterscotch slag satin and Butterscotch slag carnival (iridized) – 2002 special order for Rosso Glass
Blue
†Cobalt * – Dark cobalt blue, the darkest of Mosser’s blue shades. Glossy, †iridized and satin. Glossy and Satin were remade as a special 3rd party order in 2023. These can be distinguished by the newer mark (M in the state of Ohio) on the back.
Milk and Cobalt – White milk glass and cobalt.
†Ice blue iridized – Iridized blue
†Turquoise – Blue and green glass over an opaque white core. The amount of blue or green varies. Also, turquoise satin.
†Wind frost – Light ice blue with heavy opalescent “frost” on the head, sides and legs.
†Smoke n blue – opaque light blue with streaks of smoky brown /black.
†Blue – Bright blue. Also Blue Frosted (Satin)
Blue Opal – Opalescent medium blue.
†Blue milk – Opaque light blue. Very variable color.
†Milky blue – medium blue and white slag
†Aqua – Light greenish blue (Shown in Aqua Satin)
†Aqua opal – 2003 – Clear and cloudy variations, also iridized and satin. Although this is the only one listed in Mosser’s notebook, an earlier aqua opal appears to exist.
†Aqua Carnival (AC on Mosser’s list?)
†Azure – sky blue
†Cloud 9 – bright blue with white slag – October 1981
Blue slag
†Ritz blue – Medium blue – October 1983
†Periwinkle carnival – Opaque light blue iridescent
†Cambridge blue – June 1988
†Willow blue – Very light clear blue, the lightest of the blues – June 1989
†Cobalt & milk slag – August 1997
Georgia Blue and Georgia Blue Carnival – 2023 special order, exclusively for Farmhouse Vintage Treasures and the Mosser Cat Central group on Facebook. These cats are marked with an “M” inside the outline of the state of Ohio.
Midnight Blue – 2023 experimental color, made by mixing black and crystal together. Marked “M” in the state of Ohio. Highly variable color. Details below.
Kimberlite Blue – 2023 color. Shiny, satin, iridized and combination finishes. Made for Rosso Glass.
Buffett Blue – 2023 color – Bright medium aqua blue. Looks like the old 70’s-80’s blue with less colorant.
Purple
†Custard Grape – Purple / amethyst with custard glass slag (aka “c grape”, sometimes mis-written as “sea grape”)
†Lavender ice – Very close in color to cranberry ice. Possibly an unintentional variation.
†Amethyst * – Medium purple, also satin and iridized finishes.
Black amethyst – See Black Berry
†Plum – reddish, brownish purple. May be short for “Sugar plum” or “Plum slag” – the actual plum base color is not very attractive.
†Plum opal and †Plum opal iridized – Highly variable color
†Black Berry – October 1992 – Dark purple, nearly black. Look for purple through the ears when backlit. AKA “black amethyst”
†Purple carnival – Heavily iridized opaque purple. If you have an iridized cat and can’t see a color through the ears / feet, it’s probably purple carnival.
†Purple swirl – Purple and white slag. – 2001 – Also in satin
†Heatherbloom iridized – March 1998
†Royal luster – Dark and lighter purple. Older “double M” cat, looks similar to Purple Swirl, but it’s a surface treatment, not a slag.
Alexandrite – Overall appears to be lavender but changes color in different types of light – incandescent, fluorescent or sunlight – since it contains the rare earth element neodymium. This was a special order for The Collector’s Addition in 2003-2004 and most pieces are signed, dated and numbered on the bottom.
Light Lavender (error color, aka “Crown Lilac”) – 2023. Very pale lavender. This was a batch of Crown Tuscan glass that ended up more purple than pink. The satin was sandblasted at Rosso, all pieces are marked with the M in the state of Ohio.
Eggplant – Opaque deep purple – a standard Mosser color. Special order June 2024.
Black, White, Gray
†Milk / White milk * – White Opaque. Also satin finish
†Smoke * – Black with translucent gray ears and feet. Also satin finish. No iridized version. Very similar to the reissue in Titanium
†Crystal – Clear. Also Crystal satin and †Crystal opal(escent). Some clear crystal cats contain manganese and glow a soft green under UV light.
†Gray – Blueish-gray opaque. Also in satin finih.
†Cameo bronze – Opaque white with streaks of bronze.
†Crystal wind frost – Crystal with heavy white opalescence – May 1983. The “crystal” in a crystal wind frost is off white / pinkish. (Easier to see on this Mosser Collie)
†Black magic – Black with some translucent brown when held up t the light. UV reactive bright red.
†Pearl – Older iridized white. Glows green under UV light, should have a second “M” mark on the bottom.
†Crystal iridized * – January 1996 – Rerun in 2023 for Rosso, but only sold to be airbrushed various colors by Rosso.
†Crystal opal iridized
†Milk iridized
†French Vanilla – off-white – April 1998
†Opal luster – off-white, luster surface
†Moonstone – Moonstone glass was a name used for clear glass with opalescent white areas popular around the mid to later 20th century. This may have been another name for crystal windfrost or crystal opal, but since it is a separate name on Mosser’s list, it is most likely this crystal cat with wisps of white, similar to Snow Frost in the Jenny figurines.
†Black * – Solid opaque black. Not UV reactive. Rerun for Black Cat Vintage in September 2023, newer cats are marked with an M in the state of Ohio and are also available with a carnival finish.
Marble and Marble Carnival – 2023 special order, exclusively for Rosso Glass. Marble is a multi tonal gray. These cats are marked with an “M” inside the outline of the state of Ohio.
Titanium – Another 2023 special order for Rosso, this color is almost identical to Smoke but is slightly more translucent and will have the “M” inside the outline of Ohio. Glossy, satin and iridized.
Multicolor / Decorated / Novelty
Rubina – Yellow, blue and green. Very dark – you need a lot of light to see the colors on the thinner parts of the cat. Can be mistaken for black or very dark green. This was a special order for a client.
There is reason to speculate that this piece was made around or after late August 1980. That is the only other time Mosser was known to have pressed any glass in rubina (for sale by another glass company.) It would make sense that these cats were made using leftover materials from that run.
Sitting Cat Reissues – 2023 and Later
2023 saw a massive increase in demand for the vintage Mosser sitting cats, with sales for vintage pieces running well over $100 each! To meet demand at an affordable price, several independent vendors commissioned Mosser to make special orders of the cats exclusively for them to sell. ALL OF THESE CATS CAN BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE ORIGINALS BY THE “M” IN THE STATE OF OHIO ON THE BACK TOWARDS THE RIGHT.
In order of their release, these colors were:
Georgia Blue – Glossy and carnival – Farmhouse Vintage Treasures – April, 2023. Only 256 total – 120 glossy, 136 iridized.
Gray Marble – Variable warm gray color, Glossy and carnival – Rosso Wholesale Glass, May 2023. Total of 311 – 150 glossy, 161 iridized
Light Lavender – Glossy and satin. When a batch of Crown Tuscan glass Mosser was mixing up for a run of Hens on a Nest ended up more purple than pink, Rosso Wholesale Glass asked if Mosser could use it for yet another special run of the sitting cats. The result was a very pale lavender, nicknamed “Crown Lilac” by an online collector community. June 2023, total of 384 – 192 each glossy and satin (satins were sandblasted in house by Rosso.) Rosso later sold a few of the latter airbrushed purple.
Cobalt – Glossy, satin and iridized – Like the vintage cobalt but with the updated mark. Miriam’s Timeless Treasures, August 2023. Total of 436 – 170 glossy, 148 satin, 118 iridized.
Titanium (very similar to smoke, identified by the new mark) – Glossy, satin and iridized. Rosso Wholesale Glass. Released 7/31/23. Total of 682 made – 457 glossy / satin, 225 iridized. Satins were sandblasted by Rosso in-house.
Crystal Carnival – Airbrushed – Various colors, including blue, purple, yellow, and brown ombre. These were airbrushed over crystal carnival cats made especially for this purpose and not sold separately . Rosso Wholesale Glass
Airbrushed and sand carved – Rosso also made 2 cats with sand carved decorations – red hearts on titanium satin, and a Halloween kitty, white with black spiders and orange accents over crystal satin.
Black and Black Carnival – Special order by Black Cat Vintage, September 2023. (Totals not available). Vintage Mosser cats were not made in iridized black.
Also, in March or April of 2024 Rosso released airbrushed black cats. These have the new mark and can be difficult to distinguish from the Black Cat Vintage glossy cats.
Midnight Blue – An experimental mixture of crystal and black that turned out variable shades of a beautiful deep blue. Used to produce fluffy kittens and sitting cats. Sitting cats were sold as solid color and “opalescent” but the latter were just the lighter colored ones produced in the run, and have no true opalescence. Total of 288, colors vary from a medium smokey blue to a very dark shade with hints of blue and purple. September, 2023.
Kimberlite Blue – Medium blue, sold in glossy, satin, iridized and combination finishes. Rosso Glass, released 10/3/2023. Satins and combination finishes were produced in-house by Rosso. Total of 723 – 205 glossy, 378 iridized, 90 satin, 25 satin head glossy body , 25 glossy head, satin body.
Buffet Blue – Medium “Caribbean” blue, named after the late Jimmy Buffet. This was a rename of the color previously called “aqua” in some figures. Sold as glossy, satin and iridized. Miriam’s Timeless Treasures – released 12/14/23. (Total 315 – 90 glossy, 153 iridized, 72 satin)
Apple Green – same as the vintage apple green, but with the new mark. Special order for Buckeye RBR, released 1/6/24 in glossy and carnival finishes. Total 348.
Crystal – Was released undecorated in all 3 finishes by Rosso Glass in early 2024.
Hunter Green – Lighter and not quite as blue as the vintage hunter. Closer to vintage emerald. Special Order, released 1/14/24 in glossy, satin and carnival finishes.
Rose – Close to the vintage rose, but brighter, and with the new mark. This special order was released in all 3 finishes on 2/15/24.
Crown Tuscan – March 2024 special order for Max Iverson in glossy and iridized finishes. Will have the new mark. The glossy could pass for a vintage Heirloom Pink if you’re buying online – check the mark on the back to differentiate.
Milk White – April 4 2024 release – special order for Miriam’s Timeless Treasures. Glossy, satin and iridized finishes with the new mark.
Amethyst – Special order for Buckeye RBR, released 5/25/24 in glossy and carnival finishes. Looks like the vintage amethyst, check the mark to differentiate.
Eggplant – One of Mosser’s “new” colors, this is a standard color Mosser used for tableware, figurines and other items. Special order in June 2024 for Garrett Graham.
Mosser cats ending soon on eBay!
Where did this information come from?
Unfortunately, Mosser did not keep very detailed records during most of the years that the sitting cat was in production. There is just a small notebook – partly typed, partly handwritten. Two pages list sitting cat colors, another lists colors for the cat plates. Some of them have months / years listed, most do not. There are no color descriptions on the list and some known colors are not mentioned at all.
The list on this page was aggregated from:
- †The Mosser Glass notebook pages.
- Mosser catalogs from 1976 through the 2007. Colors Mosser planned to make and sell for that year are listed and pictured in the catalogs. Most of these colors were not “planned.”
- Conversations with other collectors
- Mosser dealers. A good percentage of my own collection was from a former Mosser dealer and most of those items came to me labelled. Also, product lists on old dealer sites, from archive.org (not 100% reliable). Some dealers sold items that were technically the same under different names (example: aqua opal cloudy / mist).
- Other products Mosser was making at the time where the color names are known. Jenny / Josh, clowns and Collies. My personal collection includes over 150 collies in nearly all of the known colors. Note that some colors were sold under different names across products. Jenny / Josh and the clowns were sold in labeled boxes and often kept with the box, making their colors easy to identify.
- Standard industry names for types of glass produced at the time, for example, all cobalt glass looks pretty much alike though the formulas used may differ.
- Glass produced by other glassmakers (such as Boyd). Boyd produced items in a ritz blue and a cambridge blue in the 80’s. However this needs to be taken with a grain of salt as different glassmakers had different proprietary formulas. Boyd’s ritz / cambridge blue are not identical to Mosser pieces with the corresponding color names.
- Standard color names from the graphic arts industry – for example, Pantone – who defines various colors by RGB codes and is an authority source for color in the pigments industry.
- Dates on vintage pieces are from the Mosser notebook list, Mosser catalogs, or from original Mosser labels on vintage sitting cats.