Unofficial color list for The “Sitting Cat” collectible figurine, manufactured by Mosser Glass. It can be challenging to identify colors on the Mosser sitting cats for a number of reasons – beginning with the lack of 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 were taken in the same location under similar lighting conditions . (Where did I get this information?)
Colors which were rerun in 2023 are flagged with an asterisk (*). 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.
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Red & Pink
Pink
Heirloom pink – Opaque light pink. Older color.
Light pink (?)
Peachblo – Light pink-peach. – October 1981. Also in satin.
Red
Red iridized – 2004
Ruby
Strawberry – darker red
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
Blazer / Harvest – Somewhat amber shading to reddish / orange on the ears and feet (?)
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. Might be UV reactive
Pink opal – Pink with opalescent ears / feet / tail
Pink wind frost – Pink /peach with heavy opalescence.
Pink champagne iridized – Pink 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
Flame – Orange shading to gold. May have light 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 and Candy corn iridized –
Tangerine iridized – Light orange carnival.
Autumn
Harvest or Blazer (see entry under Red)
Harvest Slag – Multicolored orange slag (?)
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 clear green with white slag.
Kashmir green
Apple green – light green. Also made in satin.
Emerald green
Dark green (?)
Hunter green – Darker green with a blueish cast.
Hunter green iridized
Ice lime iridized – Light green carnival
Lime – Opaque medium yellow-green
Green banana – Pale yellowish green opaque, may have tinges of brown. Greenish 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.
Green opal – Light green opalescent. Also Green opal satin and
Green opal iridized.
Teal – Blue-green, clear. Also satin finish.
Teal iridized (? – Was made in the collies, may not have been done in the cats) –
Winter Green – White and light green slag
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
Aqua opal – 2003 – Clear and cloudy variations, also iridized and satin
Aqua Carnival? (AC on Mosser’s list)
Azure
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 and Midnight Blue Opalescent – 2023 accident color, Marked “M” in the state of Ohio. Details below.
Purple
Custard Grape – Purple / amethyst with custard glass slag
Lavender ice (?) – Very close in color to cranberry ice. Newer color?
Amethyst – Medium purple, also satin and iridized finishes.
Black amethyst – Dark purple, nearly black. Look for purple through the ears when backlit. (May be another name for Black Berry?)
Plum – reddish purple. May be short for “Sugar plum” and “Plum slag”
Plum opal
Plum opal iridized (?)
Black Berry – October 1992 – see “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.
Light Lavender (error color, aka “Crown Lilac”) – 2023. 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 run of the sitting cats. The result was a very pale lavender. Sold glossy or satin finish, there were 192 of each. The satin was sandblasted at Rosso, all pieces are marked with the M in the state of Ohio.
Brown
Amber – Brown “root beer” glass
Light Amber
Dark Amber (?) – Might have another name or 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.
Taffy – Light warm brown opaque.
Jasmine
Butterscotch slag – also Butterscotch slag satin
Butterscotch slag carnival (iridized)
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. See also: 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
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
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
Rubina – Yellow, blue and green, very dark, can be mistaken for black. This was a special order for a client.
Unknown colors:
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, or this crystal cat with wisps of white, similar to Snow Frost in the Jenny figurines.
Spindrift – Per a note on the Mosser notebook page with the little plates, this may be another name for aqua (green) windfrost
2023 Colors – Sitting Cats Redux:
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
Gray Marble – Glossy and carnival – Rosso Wholesale Glass
Light Lavender – Glossy and satin – Rosso Wholesale Glass. Rosso also sold a few of these airbrushed purple.
Cobalt – Glossy and iridized – Miriam’s Timeless Treasures.
Titanium (very similar to smoke) – Glossy, satin and iridized. Rosso Wholesale Glass. Released 7/31/23.
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.
Black and Black Carnival – Black Cat Vintage, 9/2023
Midnight Blue – A mixture of crystal and black that turned out a beautiful dark blue. Used to produce fluffy kittens and sitting cats. Sitting cats were made in solid color and opalescent.
Mosser cats ending soon on eBay!
Where did this information come from?
Unfortunately, Mosser did not keep very good 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.
- Several Mosser catalogs from 1979 through the 2000’s
- 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).
- Other products Mosser was making at the time where the color names are known. Jenny / Josh, clowns and collies – with the caveat 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, persimmon is likely to look like persimmon glass.
- Glass produced by other glassmakers (such as Boyd). Boyd produced items in a ritz blue and a cambridge blue in the 80’s.
- Standard color names – Pantone, etc.