Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Several have experiences with the Rouge Flambé plates discussed in previous Gazettes. First comes from David Goldstein of Naples, Florida.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of owning six pieces of Rouge Flambe at various times. The first pieces were a pair of 8” plates that had been part of a set of twelve that was being broken up for sale. They were the pick of the set and had great color.

The next piece and by far the best, was a Shape 6240 Double Gourd Vase with magnificent color that is in a private collection, but is expected to eventually be given to CMoG. This is the same form as the tall Hilbert vase but has great color. The actual Hilbert vase has much better color than it appears to have in the picture.

My next piece was a 10” plate that was relatively translucent. Good color but thin. I showed it to Bob and Bobby Rockwell. They liked the color but were uncertain as to whether Rouge Flambe plates had been made in a 10” size. I kept the plate for several years and eventually found an old Steuben ad that had a 10” Rouge plate being used as a service plate, proving that the plates were made in the larger size.

My last two pieces were another pair of 8” plates from the same set of 12. I haven’t had a piece of rouge Flambe in several years but keep my eyes open. All the pieces I’ve owned were the bright red that we associate with Rouge Flambe and all but the large plate were opaque.

David Goldstein

Next, Jo Ann Godawa of Bellevue, Nebraska also experienced these plates

Rande,

Many moons ago, I did a show in Kansas City where a dealer had a 12 piece set of, what he was calling Rouge Flambe`, plates. They were large and all exactly alike in color, none were signed. He was selling them for $400.00 each.

Having read what Mr. Carder had to say about this particular color, I was skeptical that a set of this magnitude could even be made as Mr. Carder said that he never knew what color would evolve from the black mass when it was removed from the annealing oven.

My second thought was, why in the world would he make something so mundane as a set of production line tableware plates instead of vases when he knew that the process was so difficult and uncontrollable? At least vases stand alone and do not have to match, as in a set.

I passed on buying one of them and do know that one eventually wound up in Corning, when Bob was buying for the Museum.

Just my opinion, but I don’t think we will ever know which 50 or so pieces that Mr. Carder considered to be his Rouge Flambe` Glass or, in his words, his, “Red Flame,” Glass and which were the pieces made along his way to this achievement!

Regards,
Jo Ann

www.cardersteubenclub.org

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2013 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 19-21, 2013. The festivities will begin with Frederick Carder’s 150th birthday celebration on the evening of September 18, 2013.