Cormorants At Sunset
by John Gager
A special Thanks to Doug Simmons for the information and pictures used in this article.

  Doug Simmons is a self proclaimed Fenton addict. So much so that his addiction has brought him about 318 pieces of Burmese, including 19 lamps, along with various other Fenton eggs, dated plates, Connoisseur Collection pieces, perfume bottles, and several QVC items. Doug started his collection in 1995 with QVC, purchasing a small Teal basket.
    But as with all Fenton collectors, there is always one more piece, the ultimate, that every collector must have. Doug had his chance when QVC ran their first auction, called QVCBid, with the first item being a rare Fenton Burmese "One-of-a-kind" lamp decorated by the late Louise Piper. Named "Cormorants At Sunset", this beautiful lamp came from the Fenton museum and was offered for auction with the proceeds going to charity. The auction ran from the 22nd. to the 27th. of February, and it was obvious this lamp was not going to go cheap. Within just a few hours the lamp was at $1200 and slowly kept creeping up all week.
  Doug first heard about the lamp when it was mentioned on the Fenton Chat board on eGroups. As he explains it, "During one of the group conversations a couple of weeks ago I learned there was a special lamp on QVC. I went right to it. I didn't bid on it all week. But, at the last minute I had a moment of weakness and placed a bid of $3,550.00. It stuck and I won." Although the bid was $3,550, with shipping and taxes the final total was $3,749.00, a substantial sum for any Fenton collector.
  Although some of you might think that is a ridiculous price for a Burmese lamp, Doug doesn't look at it that way. "Is the lamp worth it??? As a 25 year old Burmese lamp you would probably say no. Then you add Louise Piper into the mix and it's sounding better. Then there is only ONE and it has been in the museum its whole existence. And finally it is probably one of the last items with Frank Fenton's actual signature associated with it. It was worth every penny to me."