Chalet’s Fish and the Marine Mammal Animal Figurines

Chalet produced quite an extensive and varied range of fish, a mollusk, and a marine bird and mammal figurines. Specifically, the whale, dolphin, the seal, polar bears, a snail and penguin and a variety of fish forms – including a pedestal-based shark figurine.

Let’s take a look a look at the first 6 before we concentrate on the various styles of Chalet fish.

It can be easy to confuse one of the designs of Chalet fish with the whale figurine if you have not seen both before.

Whale form in the left background and fish form in the right foreground.

The whale is the best chronicled of the Chalet animals as it is not only shown on the “Canadian Wildlife” hang tag, but also on a Chalet inventory page as item # 614 as well as in both Riekes Crisa catalogs that we have.

The Chalet “Canadian Wildlife” hang tag.

To date, this is the only Chalet inventory sheet showing animal figurines of which we are aware.

The whale figurine. inventory # 614, is typically found in a 2-tone coloured combination and most often etched “Chalet Canada.” We have not found them in as wide a range of colour combinations as many other animal figurines – including the Chalet fish. To date, no opaline, bullicante or avventurina whale figurines have been found. They are usually coloured emerald-green/blue or olive-green/blue.

However, we have found this bright amber/olive-green figurine.

This very rare coloured figurine swims in the “Troy Danby Ocean.”

Lorraine Glass Industries also produced a 2-tone “tails up” whale figurine.

Photograph courtesy of 50 Shades member Cindy Bishop-Laughlin.

In addition, we have found a very few Chalet whales in solid colours. These are very, very rare.

Both these figurines bear the iconic Chalet signature.

And a uranium super rare!

Also from the collection of Troy Danby.

The whale was also produced in clear crystal and carried by N. C. Cameron & Sons in Canada and Riekes Crisa in the United States.

In the Riekes inventory, it was carried in several assorted sizes and could be purchased on its own or in an assortment. Note the different inventory numbers.

Catalog listings at left and center from the 1976 Riekes catalog and photograph at right from the later undated Riekes catalog.

We have been lucky enough to find an advertisement in which it is featured.

Boscov’s is an American family-owned department store chain with 50 locations across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio. West Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. It is still in operation today.

In September of 1973, its Lebanon, Pennsylvania location was offering a sale on their Riekes Crisa inventory. The 8” Chalet clear crystal whale, regularly priced at $15.00 US was on sale for $7.49 US. In 2024 Canadian dollars, this translates to $142.79 and $71.33 respectively.

Chalet polar bears are highly prized by collectors. They come in an extremely varied range of colours and poses with extensive variation in size and colour placement. They were produced in clear crystal, striking avventurina gold dust and silver foil bears, 2-tone bears in both rare and common colour combinations, uranium bears… On February 27, 2024, there was an extensive article posted on the Chalet polar bears to celebrate International Polar Bear Day. In view of that, I am not going to duplicate information but have directed you to it instead. However, I have included in this article a gallery of pictures showing a sampling of Chalet polar bears.

The uranium bear at top right is from the collection of 50 Shades member Ken Brewer, the opaline from Deborah Patterson, the silver foil from Matthew LeDrew, the clear crystal belongs to Pina Pina, the olive and blue (head down pose) to Pierre Denis and the purple and green (head up pose) to Kevin Hall.

The Chalet seal figurine is often mistaken for the Lorraine Glass Industries form.

An easy way to keep the two correctly identified is to remember the Lorraine seal (left) slides on its belly for food while the Chalet (right) seal balances a ball on its nose for his. In addition, while the Chalet seal is not found in an extensive range of colour combinations, the Lorraine seal colour combinations are less limited. They are seen in ambers with blue or green as well.

To date, the only 2-tone colour combinations in which the Chalet seal has been found are the emerald or olive green/blue.

The seal figurine was also shown on the inventory sheet above as # 562.

Like the whale and polar bear, it has also been found in clear crystal.

From the zoo of 50 Shades member Gionny Gueli.

The Chalet penguin figurine is inventory #561. It is very rare.

To date, it, like the Chalet seal and whale, typical figurines have only been found in the 2-tone colour combination of bright green/blue. However, there has been a 2-tone pink and purple etched penguin discovered .

Typical variation in size and colour seen in this pair from the ice floes of Cindy Bishop-Laughlin.

While Chalet did a line of dolphin figurines for Riekes Crisa, I can only show you these in a catalog page. To my knowledge, a marked figurine that can be verified as Chalet made has never been found. Therefore, I can provide no other details.

Another never-seen form is the Chalet snail. This mollusk, like the Chalet dolphin figurines, can only be shown from the catalog.

Now shifting our focus to the Chalet fish figurines. To date, we have no Chalet inventory sheets which show the various fish forms that Chalet produced. However, we do have fish shown in the Riekes Crisa catalogs. More importantly, we have also been quite successful in being able to build files of verified Chalet fish forms.

With over 33,000 species of fish living in all diverse kinds of aquatic environments, these creatures have lived for over 500 million years! Fish is eaten in most countries around the world - a significant source of protein for over 3 billion people. It is also processed into many non-food products, including:

• Fishmeal and fish oil: These are used to feed animals, such as livestock and aquaculture.

• Fish emulsion: Used as a fertilizer.

• Fish glue: Used for various purposes.

• Isinglass: Used to clarify wine and beer.

• Pigments: Made from the inky secretions of cuttlefish.

• Leather: Made from the skin of various fish, such as sharks, sting rays, salmon, catfish, cod, haddock, cusk, pollock, and carp.

• Bandages: Made from tilapia skin to treat second- and third-degree burns.

Fish are also prized for their beauty and aquarium keeping is a popular hobby in Europe, Asia, and North America. In 1999, an estimated 9.6 million households in the United States owned an aquarium - fish are the most popular pet, with one in eight households owning fish and 40% of aquarists having two or more tanks.

Not all household fish require feeding. Some actually require dusting instead. Art has immortalized this creature with fish motif common in painting, sculpture, printing, ceramics and glass, inking, wood-blocking, textiles, contemporary digital art and anime...

Why? The fish figure carries deep spiritual meaning in both secular and religious environments.

While those who enjoy astrology may associate the fish with the zodiac sign Pisces (Pisces actually translates to "fish" in Latin), fish symbolism goes as deep as the oceans they inhabit. They are symbols of rebirth, fertility, the unconscious or higher self, luck, change, health, and feelings.

Fish are also commonly associated with the water element, which signifies stability, balance, and tranquility. In some cases, water is seen as the protector of the body and can act as a kind of antidote to extreme emotions and movements of the body. However, as water also represent flooding and totality, its immense range gives it qualities of obscurity and mystery as well. The fish’s strong connection to the water element gives it is also given a similar connotation of duality. When water obscures a hard life-decision, the fish is a guide familiar with the world of the unknown acting as a spiritual rock and a stabilizing force in the face of adversity.

Fish don’t necessarily lend themselves to poetic possibilities, but there have been some classic poems written about fishing and the fish, nevertheless. These range from religious instructional verse to religious satire, to ecological poems and poems about the self. However, I think most of us would agree that a book from childhood is our best-remembered “fish tale.”

In 1960, Dr. Suess penned this world-wide best-seller. As of 2001, over six million copies of “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” had been sold, placing it 13th on a list of "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books" from Publishers Weekly.

Take a walk down memory lane:

“One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish,

Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish.

This one has a little car.

This one has a little star.

Say! What a lot of fish there are.

Yes. Some are red, and some are blue.

Some are old and some are new.

Some are sad, and some are glad,

And some are very, very bad.

Why are they sad and glad and bad?

I do not know, go ask your dad.

Some are thin, and some are fat.

The fat one has a yellow hat.

From there to here,

From here to there,

Funny things are everywhere.

Here are some who like to run.

They run for fun in the hot, hot sun.

Oh me! Oh my! Oh me! oh my!

What a lot of funny things go by.

Some have two feet and some have four.

Some have six feet and some have more.

Where do they come from? I can't say.

But I bet they have come a long, long way.

we see them come; we see them go.

Some are fast. Some are slow.

Some are high. Some are low.

Not one of them is like another.

Don't ask us why, go ask your mother.”

So, with the stage being set, let’s go fishing!

There are no fish, or any other animal figurines, shown on Chalet’s 1962 “Items Available” sales brochure.

However, this photograph appeared in the Canadian Weekly September 8-12, 1962 edition in a multi-page spread regarding the company’s opening.

This is not typical of the style of art glass that Chalet was committed to producing for the Canadian market. View it in contrast to the forms offered on the “Items Available” inventory sheet shown above. I believe it was most likely either done in Montreal at “Murano Glass” before the company relocation and name and direction change or was a piece done by Maestro Segio Pagnin or Maestro Luigi Tedesco to show “How Canada makes Venetian Glass” which was the focus of the article.

That being said, a “fish find” which proves my belief that, “There is no Chalet consistency other than inconsistency.”

As well as retaining its Chalet label, this piece was also etched with the Eaton’s <E>.

Chalet fish figurines come in a wide range of style, size, and colour. As is typical of all Chalet forms, shades and placement of colour is not standard. Variation is the norm in mouth blown forms. There are several different smaller styles of Chalet fish. Please note – the naming of the fish styles is my own – not a Chalet company designation. A large abstract “angelfish” sculpture-like figurine. Fish bomboniere. The exceedingly rare and coveted pedestal-based shark. A very odd-looking clear crystal blowfish. Some are more commonly seen than others and there is quite a wide range of colour combinations seen in both common and rare. Solid coloured fish as well as clear crystal fish. We have also found a uranium figurine, a gold avventurina and a silver foil fish. However, we have found no bullicante fish and the only opaline, to date, is in a bomboniere.

Angelfish are known for nipping fins, so it might be best not to display them with others! And do not mistake the Chalet “angelfish” with the Chalet “dolphin fish.” The smaller Chalet “angelfish” form:

This style is typically found in 8” heights.

The color of an angelfish doesn't affect its temperament – in either the ocean or on your shelves. This is not a common form. This pair was also 8” in height. As stated, this is the most typical height for this style. However, some slight variation in size can be expected.

Do not mistake the Chalet “angelfish” with another similar style - the Chalet “dolphin fish.” The “dolphin fish” is much smaller in size, typically 4-6” in height, and the tail is longer and extends further from the body.

Lorraine Glass Industries also did an angelfish that is almost identical to the Chalet form so confusion between the forms is common.. The easiest “id tell” is in the back fin – note the difference.

Stickered Lorraine Glass Industries “angelfish.”

Chalet also produced a larger and more abstract version of the angelfish. It is more sculptural in design and is extremely sought after by collectors. This form ranges in height from 8” to 15”. It is seen in both common and rarer colour combinations.

A 15” Chalet “angelfish sculpture” shown with a smaller 6” Chalet “dolphin fish” figurine.

This photograph is an excellent illustration of the varying sizes of the larger angelfish form. From the aquarium of 50 Shades member Bob Burgess.

This form was blown in rarer 2-tones as well.

Display by collector Sabrina Brunetti.

This particular figurine, from the display above, stands 14.5” high, is 6.5” in diameter and has a base of 2”. Etched “Chalet Canada.”

This is a 9-inch etched “Chalet Canada” figurine from the collection of 50 Shades member Jo Highland.

From 50 Shades collectors Troy Danby (left figurine), Kevin Hall (middle figurine) and Susan Smith (at right). Note the differing colourplacement in the 2 yellow/green angelfish.

Note the rarer 2-tone colour combinations of cranberry/blue and yellow/blue in several of the forms in this grouping. From the fishbowl of Troy Danby.

Turning our attention once again to the Chalet “dolphin fish.” This is not a common figurine. And the colour combinations that we have found it in, up to the present, are also more unusual.

Photograph courtesy of 50 Shades member Michael Flink.

Photograph courtesy of Chalet Vintage Art Glass Gallery.

This lovely swims in the fish-tank of 50 Shades member Jeanne Legare.

Another Chalet pescare specimen is the “needle-nose” fish. Once again, a rarer form.

Photographs at left courtesy again of Michael Flink.

I have labelled these as Chalet “snub nosed” fish. They are share some similarities to the “needle nose” but are different enough that I am uncertain whether they are simply a variation or a separate style. You decide!

A remarkably similar species swims in the Lorraine pond.

The most common of the Chalet fish are the “tails up” styles. Although there are definite differences in size, colouring, and colour placement as well as variations in design, all styles of Chalet “tails up” fish share a singular trait – a distinctly perky joie de vivre! They are found in both common and rare 2-tone colour combinations, clear crystal, a very few solids, a uranium, and a silver foil.

Commonly found colour combinations.

This figurine is also coloured in the emerald-green/blue 2-tone but note that while the 2-tones are the same, the colour placement is opposite to that of the figurine shown directly above.

Scarcer 2-tone colour combinations.

Rare 2-tone colour combinations.

This pair is a gorgeous example of two things – not only rare colour combinations but variation in size between forms of the same style.

While this pair shows variation in colour placement and tones within the same 2-tone colour combination.

Yet more rare colour combinations.

And now a school of glorious and rare 2-tones.

Mosaic Artistic Glass also produced a “tails up” fish figurine.

Photograph courtesy of collector Chris Billio.

Now for the solids.

Photographs courtesy of 50 Shades member Cathy Antonyshyn.

The uranium.

I think this is the most unique Chalet Artistic Glass animal figurine I have ever seen. Not only is it a rare 2-tone, but it is also a silver foil piece. It is etched “Chalet Canada.” Amazing!

50 Shades member Troy Danby buys fish food for this beauty.

Chalet distributors N.C. Cameron & Sons Ltd. (Canada) and Riekes Crisa (US) both carried clear crystal fish in the “tails up” style.

The fish at left retains its original N.C. Cameron & Sons Ltd. label. The fish at right which retains its original Riekes Crisa label is from the collection of 50 Shades member Deanna Cejer.

It is shown in the 1976 Riekes catalog.

It was also featured in the Boscov’s department store advertisement shown earlier.

In the same September 1973 sale, the same Lebanon, Pennsylvania location also discounted their smaller Chalet animal figurines. The 5” clear crystal “tail up” fish, regularly priced at $10.00 US was on sale for $4.99 US. In 2024 Canadian dollars, this translates to $95.20 and $47.50 respectively.

A style variation (middle background) of the “tails up.” A hybrid of design – combining the whale with the fish.

This figurine is interesting for a second reason. Can you see it?

It is a second. As shown, the fish on the left has indented (tonged) eyes but the variation figurine is missing its.

Riekes Crisa also carried more clear crystal Chalet figurines. Two more – each rarer than rare!

The first - the coveted shark. To date, I have personally only seen three of these Chalet masterpieces. They stand 11-12” and are extremely heavy.

From the 1976 Riekes catalog. The shark was also featured in the later undated Riekes catalog with the whale and owl - shown earlier.

From the collection of the Cornwall Community Museum. This piece is also etched “Chalet Canada.” I was actually present when the museum curator found it in 2010.

And an incredibly special photograph of another of these incredibly special pieces.

Note the shark figurine at left in front of the dark vase. Chalet Maestro Giulio Gatto and Danielle Gatto, Montreal, 2021. Shown are pieces from Maestro Gatto’s personal collection blown by him when he was at the glasshouses of Chalet Artistic Glass, Lorraine Glass Industries, Rossi Artistic Glass, and Saint Zotique. There are no pieces shown here from his time at Mosaic Artistic Glass or EDAG. Photograph courtesy of Danielle Gatto and was taken for 50 Shades second year anniversary group video and photo spreads.

If you were unaware of the Chalet shark, you are then going to be even more surprised by the Chalet blowfish! To date, I am aware of only one of these being found. I imagine they had a noticeably short life span given their shape. In addition, only an extremely limited number were produced.

Inset from the 1976 Riekes Crisa catalog. The blowfish figurine is not featured in the later catalog.

The only gold dust avventurina fish figurine of which I am aware. In fact, it may be one-of-a-kind. Extremely unique.

Etched with the iconic “Chalet Canada” signature. From the fish bowl of 50 Shades member Jackie Lyn.

And one more surprise before we turn our attention to the Chalet fish bomboniere. This fish figurine is also perhaps the last or only one of its “species. Truly, “a fish out of water.”

Last but not least are the Chalet fish bonbonniere. They were done in two distinct styles and in a variety of colours as well as clear crystal.

I am not sure what actual species, if any, inspired the “crested head” design at right.

Gionny Gueli has an exceptionally large aquarium.

A 1974 advertisement from the Omaha, World Herald Nebraska newspaper featuring this piece.

Omaha, Nebraska was the headquarters of Riekes Crisa. Richard Gordman was a large department store chain located in 19 states. It operated until 2017.

And two different sizes of opaline bomboniere in this style have also been found.

The second style of Chalet bomboniere is more “fish form” realistic.

From the collection of 50 Shades members Kevin Kodak and Tracey Shanley.

It is also found in clear crystal.

This pair retain their Roycraft label - a Chalet distributor. Courtesy of 50 Shades members Lorne Olafson and Darcy Dietrich.

The Chalet fish and other marine mammal animal figurines that we have discovered bear both a wide range of Chalet company and distributors markings. They have even been found with generic “Made in Canada” stickers. A few galleries recapping some of the markings shown throughout this article. For detailed explanations of Chalet company product lines, company and distributor branding, retailers, original advertising, and pricing and much more, please refer to “Chalet Crystal Clear Continued.”

What have we seen?

The “big black Chalet label” at upper left. The Eaton’s <E> etching on pedestal base of same figurine at lower left. The John Riekes Collection large gold label lower middle and the “Chalet Canada” etched signature at lower right.

The N.C. Cameron & Sons sticker is seen on both the seal and “tail up” fish in the upper row. The small Chalet “Lead Crystal” company branding is present on the “dolphin fish” while the blue bomboniere retains its sticker from another of Chalet’s distributors – Chantili.

The Riekes Crisa black palette shaped sticker.

More unusual markings.

The clear crystal bomboniere at left retains the Roy Craft sticker used by this small distributor. Two different generic country-of-origin labels are seen on the bomboniere in middle and on the “tails up” figurine at right. That photograph courtesy of Josh Dolstra.

If you are exhausted from processing all this information - here’s something to help you sleep!

Thanks to these contributors:

Cathy Antonyshyn, Ken Brewer, Sabrina Brunetti, Bob Burgess, Deanna Cejer, Troy Danby, Pierre Denis, Darcy Dietrich, Josh Dolstra, Michael Flink, Maestro Giulio Gatto, Gionny Gueli, Kevin Hall, , Jo Highland, Kevin Kodak, , Matthew LeDrew, , Jeanne Legare, Jackie Lyn, Cornwall Community Museum, Lorane Olafson, Pina Pina, Tracey Shanley and Wallace Addison White