A Great Suggestion from The New Bedford Museum of Glass’s December Newsletter

Anyone with a collection, be it glass, heirlooms, or even family photographs, should consider starting a record detailing the histories. Cataloging is a critical part of a museum’s mission, and every object that we add to our collection is recorded in great detail so that its provenance is not lost. Personal records don’t need to be as elaborate, but they should include the basics. If yours is a collection of family artifacts, be sure sure to include the who, what, when, where and why. If it is a personal collection of antiques or art that you have developed over the years, try to include the age and artist or manufacturer. The holidays are a wonderful time to reminisce about the past with your family. They are also a great time to ask your family’s input – you may be surprised by how much or how little they know about an object or collection that is important to you. Don’t despair if you find the latter, often an interest isn’t cultivated until later in life. In the meantime, keep good records!

Wishing you a memorable December,

Laura Coffin

Assistant Director, The New Bedford Museum of Glass

Responses on Trim Colors

Lon Knickerbocker of Dansville, NY responds to the the question of trim color names

You can let Neil Unger know his decoration wrap is Rose DuBarry,a color used primarily for this purpose. Neil mentions Cyprian which was probably just a marketing name for Verre de Soie with Celeste blue trim. Carder also used another blue trim, Turquoise, which like Rose DuBarry is opaque. In my experience many collectors think Rose DuBarry decoration is Rosaline and they think Turquoise is light blue jade when used as a decoration. As to why Carder gave a few glass combinations names, Alexandrite also comes to mind, just the man’ creative artistry coming through I suspect.

Marshall Ketchum adds:
(corrected copy)
The pink decoration on a Verre de Soie piece is Coral. I have no idea why he didn’t give the combination a name of its own. This combination, while not common, is not particularly rare.

From Rande Bly of Birmingham:

Reply to Neil Unger. On rare occasion Rose DuBarry was used in conjunction with Verre de Soie. It also can have a turquoise rim. However the trim on your Verre de Soie candlestick is called Coral.
The reason Cyprian has it’s special name is because it is not Verre de Soie. It is really Aqua Marine, a very pale green, with the Celeste Blue rim added. On rare occasions Cyprian will have additional blue handles or rings. There is also the rare Yellow Verre de Soie. Yellow Verre de Soie may have been also called Iridized Topaz but we are lacking full confirmation on this still. One extremely rare glass in this same category is Blue Verre de Soie. It will look just like the blue rim on Cyprian but the entire piece will be blue. I have never seen a piece or a photo of the blue but when Bob Mueller was young he and his mother came across a piece of it.
The process that sets all these pieces apart is spraying them with stannous chloride while they were still nearly molten giving them their silky surface.