Guy Hoskins of Tehachepi, California continues the string of comments on “Tiffany Blue”

To All; I agree with Mr. Coots “This is very interesting” and I think we might also refer back to Mr. Carder’s assistants’ book (Paul Gardner) “The Glass of Fredrick Carder” as ‘Aurenes’ are explained very well starting on page 61. Also stated in Gardner’s book is what we now call ‘Blue Aurene’ was often called ‘Cobalt Blue or Cobalt Blue Aurene’ by the Steuben factory workers. ‘Cobalt Blue Aurene’ or ‘Blue Aurene’ has a glass formula the same as ‘Gold Aurene’ with cobalt added to the batch. I’ve noticed over the years that a simple look at the pontil will tell a tale! All of the ‘Blue Aurene’ glass I’ve ever seen has a ‘cobalt blue’ base glass as seen ‘in’ the pontil. Hold it up to a bright light and you will see the cobalt blue. I also agree with Mr. Weerts that ‘Tiffany Blue’ was a ‘cased glass’ vs the ‘ Gold & Blue Aurenes’ which were a ‘sprayed and heated’ base glass. Just my 2 cents! G.J.Hoskins

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May 20, 2010
Scott Coots of Rochester, New York asked some clarifying questions following Marshall Ketchum’s reference to factory records on “Tiffany Blue”.
This is very interesting. Does this mean that all Blue Aurene manufactured with an Aurene signature was produced after the early 1920’s to coincide with this name change, or are you specifically talking about what this type of glass was called in the factory setting (How were they marketed to the public?, as Aurene?)?. How were pieces signed that were produced prior to this name change? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get my head around it.
T. Scott Coots

Marshall Ketchum responds to Scott
It is not at all clear. Surely there were early piece of Blue Aurene the were signed “Aurene” with the number or “Steuben Aurene” with the number. (ed. For example, an early decorated blue bearing the number “734” and labeled “Aurene”) One has to remember that what happened on the blowing room floor and what happed in sales may have been two different things. Sales may have called Blue Aurene by the name Cobalt Blue but that convention was used nowhere else. The records may not be complete enough to ever tall for sure.

Dick Weerts of Osprey, Florida adds a little color, when he observes.
This is probably off the wall but if I got sued over a color, like L.C. Tiffany failed lawsuit against Steuben over the allegation that Carder’s creation of Aurene stole Tiffany’s formulas, I might rename a color utilizing the plaintiffs name, just to stick it to him a little….. Carder from what I know about him, might have done that, just as a jab. I am sure Marshall Ketchum will come up with the dates to prove me wrong

Incidentally the “Tiffany Blue” vases were cased over alabaster or calcite, but the Intarsia top is not cased.

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From Marshall Ketchum of Genoa, New York, and then sometime Florence, Arizona says

The glass that we now all call Blue Aurene wasn’t always called by that name in the factory. According to the factory records housed in the Rakow Library that were used by the sales dept. the general use of the term Blue Aurene didn’t begin until about the early 1920s with shape numbers in the early 6000s. Before that time Blue Aurene was called Cobalt Blue. If the records referred to Aurene they meant specifically Gold Aurene.

To add somewhat to the confusion the term Blue Aurene was used earlier for a few specific shapes. These shapes were vases 2429, 2452 through 2459 and 2461 though 2471. The latter series were also made in Green Aurene. Since the line drawings for many of these shapes show that they were decorated I suspect that the original name for these decorated shapes in what some are now calling Tiffany Blue was actually Blue Aurene.

It is not clear, to me at least, where the name Tiffany Blue comes from. It is listed in Gardner and Tom Dimitroff uses it somewhat cautiously in Fig.10.40. If you search the factory records there is exactly one reference to Tiffany Blue for shade shape 870. There are 2 references for Tiffany Green in shades 822 and 915. There are two references for Tiffany Opal in shades 896 and 2348. There are even a few references that would lead one to believe that Steuben sold glass to Tiffany. I suspect that the original name for these decorated Blue pieces was Blue Aurene and at some point the name Tiffany Blue was invented to reduce the confusion when Blue Aurene became a more general term.

Bobby Rockwell has a different set of factory records that were used in the sales dept. that I have seen but have not had the opportunity to study. They might provide more information about Tiffany Blue.