Friday, December 30, 2011

Well, as we welcome a new year and reflect on the old, I’m reminded of the stock market. It’s been a year of the bulls v. the bears. In our glass world we end the year with two different points of view of what is Carder Steuben. We’veseen Rande Bly identifying various colors of Carder’s green. Then we have those who say he’s not using Mr. Carder’s glass for this comparative purpose. So, here they are: First, from Lon Knickerbocker in response to Neil Unger asking yesterday if, indeed, a piece of glass identified as Steuben by Rande Bly could be Heisey.

Hi Neil,

You are not alone out there in blogger land, at least 3 of the items pictured by Mr. Bly are not Steuben including the one you mention. This situation is sad for the novice and beginning collectors out there in bloggerdam.

Lon Knickerbocker

Then Marshall Ketchum weighs in:

Alan

I suspect that Neil is probably correct. There are a couple of pieces that Rande shows that I doubt are Steuben.

Marshall

Finally, Rande Bly responds to the questioning of identification of Carder Glass by Mr. Unger:

First off Neil Unger I would like to say I love your sense of humor. You do not want to get caught in the forest after dark because there is definitely lions and tigers and bears. I am still missing a little chunk of my hiney.

Your article certainly sent me back to the drawing board. The Heisey piece is a dead ringer for this piece. Mine stands 6 inches tall rather than 5 1/2 (probably too close to be a deciding factor). I felt my rolled rim was a little larger than the Heisey piece but it is hard to tell from different angles. Mine is signed with the Fleur de Lis. I grade diamonds so am real good with a jewelers loupe and great with minute details. I am also getting good with the fake signatures. I reexamined the signature again tonight and could find no signs of foul play. We are lucky in this case these pieces are of minimal value. Hopefully no one profits by adding a fake signature to a $100.00 piece of Heisey to make a $100.00 piece of Steuben? However, all is possible and must be considered.

Here is a picture of my Green #5 shape #1933 controlled bubble pitcher beside the Green #5 rolled rim optic vase for color comparison (sorry about the poor lighting). I will include a picture of a Green #5 windowsill vase in metal ship holder I sold 2 years ago. That photo is from the new owner with a different camera and different lighting. His photos are better than mine.

To describe the color the best I can I would say it is a very electric green with the hint of a lime that has not ripened all the way. To me Gardner’s color plate XXII b shows the hint of unripened lime color in the Thistle cut piece. Green #5 has no reaction under black light.

I am working on getting my fourth piece and should perhaps have it in a week.

Rande Bly

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2012 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 20-22, 2012.