Gordon Hancock of Patchogue, NY asks for a clarification to the Marshall Ketchum’s answer to the question of whether a maker’s mark adds value to a piece of Steuben. In turn, he asks another question.
I would think that a forged signature would actually lower the value of a piece. Wouldn’t a forged signature be considered the same as a damage such as a chip or scratch?
Best Regards to all. Gordon Hancock

Let me put in my two cents on Gordon’s first commentary. I think the response from Marshall Ketchum about forged signatures might have been loosely stated and miscommunicated. While I can’t speak for Marshall, I suspect what he was trying to say is that while a maker’s signatures doesn’t necessarily add a lot to the value of a piece of art glass (although he states a Frederick Carder after production signature may add some value), I think he is merely pointing out that there are plenty of forged marks in the marketplace to be wary of. No, forgeries certainly don’t add value and the new question you raise, Gordon, is whether they detract from value.

As to my take on this overall subject I would add that every time I see a fleur de lis, or Steuben inscription on a piece of glass I initially am suspect whether it is forged or not and want to verify the piece of glass in some other way. Oh yes, many unscrupulous sellers have in the past put a forged mark on a piece of glass to pass it off as Steuben. At the same time I am always pleased to have a mark on a piece of glass I know is “the real thing”. Now, almost all Aurene’s (except calcite lined) are marked. But then, most other Steuben glass, is only occasionally incised with a mark. So, what to do for identification, with or without a mark? This is one of the biggest dilemmas facing collectors. How to confidently identify a piece of glass as authentic? Well, my advice is twofold. One is getting a set of the major Carder Steuben glass texts and review, review and review the many pictures, so that when you see a real piece of Steuben that magic light goes off in your mind. The other method is supporting the Carder Steuben Club. The Club seeks to help this process by its web site www.cardersteubenclub.com where we seek to post a picture of every shape number and technique. Well, there are thousands upon thousand of possibilities and the site doesn’t have them all, by any means. It has a large number of pictures of the real thing catalogued by shape number that can be compared to, however. The webmaster is always seeking more pictures to post. So be generous in sharing your pictures. Also, note on the front page of the web site it says “We do assist in the identification of glass”, and the webmaster, Mark Buffa, does his best to identify obvious Steuben and suggests other makers for non-Steuben. Incidentally, we do have a vetting process for what is posted on the site, and anyone who ever has any questions of the process or a piece they question on the site is welcomed to write the webmaster. Similarwise, another source for identification is Marshall Ketchum mdketchum1@gmail.com who has developed a great expertise in identifying the many catalogued Carder shapes and is usually quite generous in helping other collectors.