CorningWare has been a staple of glass-ceramic cooking implements since 1958. Corning Glass Works released these ceramic cooking dishes as alternatives to more brittle ones. They resisted thermal shock, which allowed them to be used directly from the freezer to the oven, microwave, or broiler without breaking. They could be conveniently cleaned in any normal dishwasher.
Many people probably remember them as their mom’s or grandma’s favored serving or cooking dishes, probably with blue flower patterns or colorful flowers and fruits on the side. Well, it turns out, those memories may serve you well because, in recent years, vintage CorningWare has become a collector’s item. Some of those mundane little dishes can be worth thousands of dollars now if the condition is good and the pattern is right.
Here are the 8 rarest CorningWare patterns that you might have in your pantry right now.
- Wildflower Casserole Dish
- Renaissance Casserole Dish
- Atomic Starburst Black Star Casserole Dish
- Daisey Teapot
- Range Topper
- Le Romarin Spice of Life Casserole Dish
- Cornflower Casserole Dish
- Spice of Life Casserole Dish
Price: $80+
Size: 11/2 QT
Color: White with orange/yellow flowers
photo source: Pinterest
The Wildflower square casserole dishes just scream classic CorningWare. Both the baking dish and casserole dish were commemorative pieces that originally could come in 7-piece sets and which stacked into a “wildflower tower.” They took advantage of popular earth tone designs of the time, with those bright orange poppies to spice up the kitchen circa 1978.
At an auction, one or multiple wildflower casserole dishes complete with the Pyrex lids can sell for $80 or more.
Did you know?
Many sites report the prices of CorningWare dishes, particularly wildflower and cornflower (see below), as being thousands of dollars. However, they are misreading eBay’s metrics. Just because a dish was listed for $10,000 doesn’t mean that’s what it SOLD for. When the label says “best offer accepted,” we don’t know what it sold for in exact dollars. Accurate valuations have to come from multiple bids on items whose final price is listed for public viewing.
Price: $100+
Size: 1.5 Qt – 4 QT
Color: Cream
photo source: Pinterest
This cream-colored covered casserole dish has a rare “Renaissance” pattern on the side. The 1.5-QT version featured a detailed drawing of ship masts at a port, with old drawn carriages filing to the left and right in the foreground as people look on. The 4-QT version showed a Renaissance-era city skyline, Stockholm’s seaport to be exact, completely with steeples.
The pen-style sketching certainly sets the Renaissance crockery apart from other CorningWare casserole dishes, which tend to favor more rural decorations. This covered dish held 4 quarts of casserole and had a Pyrex lid. A stamp on the bottom read “For Range & Microwave.” It frequently sells online for around $100 or more.
Did you know?
The limited edition of the 4-QT Renaissance casserole dish, which is the most valuable one, came with a trivet ware dish holder. It had a round wireframe base with two straight wooden handles so you could more easily transport the dish between the stovetop and the table.
Price: $150+
Size: 4 QT
Color: Black/white
photo source: CorningWare 411
The Atomic Starburst Black Star casserole dish contrasted with the usual floral patterns of these dishes. On the side, it had a single stenciled black star design called the black starburst, like a retro 50s space symbol, and no other markings.
There was a dish version that sat lower to the counter and a tall, 4-QT Dutch oven with the same patterning. These dishes complete with the domed Pyrex lids sell for a couple of hundred dollars on eBay auctions.
Did you know?
CorningWare also sold a percolator with the Black Atomic Star pattern. In fact, most of their patterns came with complimentary percolator variants.
Price: 4 ½”
Size: Clear
Color: $275+
photo source: eBay
This clear etched teapot by CorningWare was made in 1919 in a limited amount. It’s made completely from Pyrex and features a lovely vintage pattern etched into the side – daisies, including their stems and leaves. From the marking on the lid, we can tell that it’s official CorningWare made in the USA.
This teapot brought the same heat-resistant performance as the kitchenware to a quiet afternoon with a good cup of tea. At auction, these rare pots sell for around $275.
Did you know?
CorningWare transferred most of its famous cookware design patterns to teapots. These included a Meadow teapot, Blue Cornflower variant, as well as Floral Bouquet, Wildflower, and Spice of Life versions. However, most of these pots, made from the same opaque glass-ceramic material as the casserole dishes, aren’t as beautiful or unique. These pieces sell for around $30-$40 online in contrast to the rare etched glass model listed here.
Price: $300+
Size: 5 QT
Color: Blue/white
photo source: CorningWare 411
The coveted Blue Cornflower pattern here decorates a 5-QT range-topper. Over normal CorningWare, this pot has improved heat distribution to be used directly on a heat source. However, like any CorningWare product, it resists thermal stress, which in this case means that it heats up and cools down very slowly.
This sizable range-topper with the blue cornflower design sells for $300 or more at auctions.
Did you know?
People who didn’t know what they were doing burned food all the time in these toppers. The reason was that they were used to using metal cooking pans and figured they could turn the heat up all the way to start and turn it down as needed. However, for CorningWare’s range-topper, this didn’t work. Since it resists thermal changes (that’s the whole point!), it cooled down very slowly, leading to food boiling for longer than expected and burning to a crisp.
Price: $1,200+
Size: 1 QT
Color: Multi
photo source: Pinterest
This won’t be the last time on this list that we talk about CorningWare’s L’Echalote La Sauge pattern, or “Spice of Life.” It featured a now-iconic design of fruits and veggies on the side of several casserole dishes. This one, the Le Romarin 1-QT dish, now sells for $1,200 or more in online auctions. It had a clear lid and a stamp on the bottom that said, “Le Romarin.”
Did you know?
CorningWare lids, such as the one on the Spice of Life casserole dish, are made of Pyrex. They have a high tolerance for thermal shock (moving between heat and cold) and should not be used by themselves over a direct heat source.
Price: $1,600+
Size: 11/2 QT
Color: Blue/white
photo source: CorningWare 411
Blue Cornflower CorningWare could refer to any of three beautiful, flowered casserole dishes that came in various sizes. The blue flower pattern was the first CorningWare ever released, which raises its rarity, mystique, and value.
They could come in full 13-piece cookware sets that sell for quite a bit. Even the original dish itself with the glass lid can sell for $1,600 or more on online auctions.
Did you know?
There were original versions of the original Cornflower Blue CorningWare dishes that had sloped sides. If you see them, then the dishes are even older and (probably) even more valuable than the norm.
Price: $4,000
Size: 4 QT
Color: Multi
photo source: Pinterest
The rarest CorningWare pattern is the Spice of Life 4-QT casserole dish. The whole line of L’Echalote La Sauge or Spice of Life pattern CorningWare dishes has become valuable. Mint condition 4-QT casserole dishes with this pattern can sell on eBay for $4,000 or more, making them the rarest pattern out there.
The iconic decoration on the side features fruits and veggies, including garlic, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and artichokes on a field of herbs. Your grandma probably kept casseroles in this in the fridge and moved them directly to the range or oven as advertised. For vintage original CorningWare dishes, look for the stamp on the bottom, as well as the original clear lid.
Did you know?
The Spice O’ Life CorningWare cookery was manufactured between 1972 and 1987. Only the earliest ones feature the words of the dish’s model below the fruit and vegetable pattern. In this case, “L’Echalote”, “La Marjolaine,” and “La Romarin” must be inscribed on the side of the dish for it to fetch these incredible prices.
The Takeaway
You may know CorningWare patterns as only the decorations adorning your grandmother’s kitchen. For me, it instantly brings baked Italian Manicotti to my mind. Either way, the rarest CorningWare patterns can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars, which may surprise you.
Just remember that the outrageous prices of $10,000 or more reported by many blogs for rare CorningWare plates, especially the Blue Cornflower ones, are likely misreadings of eBay’s search results, which include unknown best offers. However, some have genuinely sold for thousands of dollars, so you may want to check your cupboards to see if your nan’s dishes could fetch a pretty penny after all.
