Thanks to Club director, Vivienne Richards, of Port Perry, Ontario Canada for the following comments.

Alan,
In response to your interesting discussion of influences on Carder’s venetian
glass, I must mention that wide spread interest in Venetian glass was stimulated
by the Great Exhibition and International Exhibition in England in the mid 19th
century. The English firm of James Powell (later Whitefriars) made beautiful
blown flint glass in the Venetian style from about 1870 to 1920. You will see the
twist stems, prunts and rigaree that we also see in Carder’s glass. Carder
certainly knew and admired Powell glass as he mentions in his recorded
recollections. I thought you might like to see my example of late nineteenth century Powell
venetian inspired glass, although the photo is not good.
http://www.PixClix.com/Tias/powell.jpg

Vivienne
On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 1:21 PM, Alan Shovers wrote:
The last e-mail was about Ernest Allen’s “post card” booklet, A Guide to Steuben Venetian
Style Glass ,done in 1969. I’m curious if any on this e-mail list knew Ernest Allen.
As best I can recall I’ve seen little written specifically about the Carder production period from 1917 to 1920-21, other than the production of light bulbs during World War I. Ernest Allen’s description of Carder’s Venetian production covers the period immediately after World War I when the Steuben Glass Works had been acquired by Corning, Inc.
Allen writes that the war started in 1914 largely cut off vital glass ingredients from abroad, notably German potash. Allen says that Carder’s Steuben glass works were a small operation compared to Gillender and the Dorflinger glassworks. Allen suggests that Gillender’s works were labeled “imported glass”, to add the aura of Europe. Dorflinger’s works were only marked with a paper label, if at all. Allen states that an examination of the Dorflinger catalog of their Venetian Reproduction line shows many shapes that were later copied by Steuben. At p. 7 Allen continues, “By early 1917 Carder was making his own Venetian. If influenced by the Dorflinger line he certainly wasn’t inspired by it. Carder’s glass while Venetian in spirit is all Carder in feeling & design. Carder could hardly have resisted the call to make Venetian style glass. Everything in the making & selling of glassware demanded it: the War which had stopped the flow of ingredients from Europe necessary for the making of fine glass; Italy had entered the War in 1915 against Austria-Hungary & Germany–Venice was in Italy & Venice was the birthplace of Western glassmaking. Venetian glass was a light soda glass which could be greatly improved by using a soda-lime glass which was inexpensive, easy to melt and to shape–ideal for a glass that would have many parts requiring many operations, a glass for which the ingredients were available, and to which could be added any lead glass cullet (scrap glass) that was available. Coloring agents, however, may have been in short supply & this may have been the reason that Carder suggested color in his Venetian glass by simply putting bits of crushed and sifted colored cullet on the marver in random fashion, then rolling a bulb of hot glass over the marver picking up the particles on the bulb, then the gather was reheated & worked to final
shape. This is the Carder technique known as CINTRA. Sometimes gold flecks or mica was
used on the part containing cintra, sometimes only on clear crystal.”

From the small book put out by Mr. Allen we find that there is a lot of confusion
over the maker of Victorian glass. Allen was trying to help identify the
differences and alert the collector. Gerry Eggert of Rochester, NY responds:

Alan,
I had a nice Venetian candlestick. Now I wonder who did make it? Steuben,
Powell, or someone else! Fascinating!

Gerry
Well Jerry, let me note when looking at Mr. Carder’s work you’ll frequently find
appliqués like prunts, reeding, ring handles, and a myriad of fanciful finials.
Study the way stems are elegantly constructed and pieced together with blown
elements that are hollow and exquisitely thin. Note that rims that frequently
incorporate a thin edge of glass being rolled under and see how optic molds were
used to create patterns within the glass. Yes, Jerry, Mr. Carder borrowed all
these stylistic elements from the Venetians, but the glass he created was wholly
new, fresh and all Steuben. (from p. 124 of Object of Desire, The Art of
Frederick Carder by Shovers)

From Dick Stark of Bethesda, MD.

Venetian is distinctly light….Powell is similar but identifiable, usually thinner than
Carder. Much is generic and some English and French are similar.