CARDER’S IVORY
By Bob Mueller

In the middle 1920s when Mr. Carder was producing broad varieties of glass categories he would develop a very soft and appealing color of glass. This wonderful ivory glass was, however, confused by collectors who called it by the name “custard”.

Mr. Carder’s had a great admiration for Chinese style, so I imagine that his ivory glass was patterned from the art work the Chinese did using ivory tusks. We have all seen great Chinese ivory tusk carved pieces in museums and collections. This well could have been have been the model for his ivory.

After Mr. Carder developed his ivory glass he found it to be quite versatile and used it for a great numbers of items at Steuben. But to me there was (still is) one item that this color was created for, and that was the vase catalogue #2683 with the acid etched Stamford design. Whether it is the color of design, or the design itself, I don’t know, but the two of them just fit together perfectly. The only thing that could be better is if a mirror black layer were applied while the vase was being made. I have seen it both ways. Whether just a homogeneous ivory, or with mirror black, to me there is such a small difference it just doesn’t matter to me. This was something that Mr. Carder made that fit like a “perfect” glove.

With Mr. Carder’s great color combination here, it is great for us collectors now days to collect it.

The color ivory was also used by lamp companies at the time. The lamp shown here was made for Marshall Fields, cat # 8508 with Mirror Black M handles, with a “Crest” mark on the brass socket part.

The development of Mr. Carder’s ivory was just the perfect fit for the development of the Art Deco period in the mid to late 1920s. As you look at a few of examples from this Art Deco period.

Finally, I would like to note this. I referred at the beginning of this article to the name of “custard.” It seems to me during my long collecting career that about 25% of Carder’s ivory that I have bought was labeled “custard glass” by the person selling the piece.

Bob Mueller
Osseo, Minnesota
April 9, 2010