Martha Stewart's jadeite dish collection is decades in the making.
This Is the Most Impressive Thing Martha Stewart Collects
Published on Dec. 27, 2024
It’s human nature to want to collect things. We wouldn’t have vocabulary like aficionado and connoisseur if we didn’t. Choosing what to collect is half the fun! Just ask Martha Stewart, who has been collecting jadeite dishes for decades, and whose impressive assemblage of dishware has become a famed staple of her brand.
What is jadeite?
Real jade is a naturally occurring green mineral found primarily in Southeast Asia. It’s prized for its color and often used in jewelry. The dishes, meanwhile, are made of tinted milk glass and named for their green shade.
The MSU Campus Archaeology Program explains that starting around 1930, jadeite dishware was produced by three companies: McKee Glass, Jeannette Glass Company and Anchor Hocking. The latter’s “Jadeite Fire King” line rose to prominence in the 1940s, because it didn’t contain uranium glass like earlier iterations. Martha Stewart’s collection is centered on Jadeite Fire King.
As noted on the official Martha Stewart Instagram account, Stewart’s daughter Alexis began collecting this dishware herself around 20 years ago, and much of that collection has since made its way to Stewart’s home in Maine. By displaying the pieces on her TV shows over the years, Stewart has sparked renewed public interest in jadeite. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she even sold a line of Martha’s Green Glass through her Martha By Mail catalog, which featured a lighter tint and more color variation than the opaque, consistent Fire King designs.
Like vintage Pyrex, these jadeite dishes are sturdy and durable. Their popularity is such that vintage pieces can sell for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market, and even lookalikes get ink spilled about them as outlets compare the knockoffs to Stewart’s preferred jadeite. Such is the power of a Martha Stewart endorsement!
Where do you find jadeite pieces?
Anyone looking to start a jadeite collection of their own will find plenty of modern-day reproductions at virtually every home goods store; Joanna Gaines’ Hearth & Hand brand, for example, released a jadeite line at Target a few years ago. If only vintage would do; however, the treasure hunt will take a bit more legwork.
Secondhand stores, thrift shops, garage sales and estate sales are all excellent places to look for antique dishware, as are online sources like eBay, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace. The Martha Stewart website has a nice guide to jadeite and offers a snapshot of what’s out there, from citrus reamers to salt and pepper shakers.
How much is jadeite worth?
One factor that influences the price is whether the jadeite was produced with uranium, a practice that ended during WWII rationing. Uranium glass glows with fluorescence under UV light, making it easy to determine the genuine article.
On eBay, the most expensive jadeite items sell for hundreds of dollars. Prices depend on the number of pieces within the lot, the condition of the included items and the rarity of the pattern. A Fire King jadeite dinner plate might go for $45, while a single vintage spherical ball pitcher can sell for $200 to $400.
Crowdsourcing outlets like Reddit can be useful for determining whether a piece is authentic and what its value might be. Reddit is also where folks can show off their hand-me-down family heirloom collections, so be prepared to grow jade green with envy.
