S and W

My first piece of Steuben was Stevens and Williams. I purchased 5 Alabaster stemmed cordials with jade bowls for $15.00 in 1973 at 19 years of age in Denver Colorado. I showed them to an art glass dealer in Scottsdale Arizona to see if he knew the maker. He thought perhaps they were Steuben. He told me if I was interested in art glass and ever wanted to be good at it I needed to study gemstones. He gave me my first book on gem stones and I went on my way. I did go on to become GIA Diamond certified and trained in colored gemstones. The most minute color change in a good sapphire or emerald could result in a difference of thousands of dollars in its value. I quickly learned to observe differences with extreme detail.

How do you tell 40 years of passion in a few paragraphs? I purchased Gardner’s book and managed to collect right at 100 pieces of Steuben in about 3 months. It was about then that I came to find out my first pieces were Stevens and Williams. That changed nothing. I was already forever hooked just like the Steuben trout.

Mr. Bob Rockwell came to visit the collection in 1974 when it hit around 300 pieces. He showed special interest in the whimsy Calcite Bowl with Rouge Flambe decoration but he knowingly went home with a $300.00 piece of Durand? Go figure?? He knew us as the Colorado cowboys and called us that for the rest of his life. I went to New York to see him in late 1974-75 and got to touch any pieces I wanted to including at least 4 to 5 pieces of Rouge Flambe. Before I left he pulled a piece of black and white glass from the bottom shelf from right beside his set of the S&W Alabaster stemmed Jade cordials and asked me what I thought. I immediately swelled with delight as I asked him to pull out his Gardner book and showed him what Gardner thought Lace Glass was. Sure enough it was a piece of Lace Glass from that day forward. I went home empty handed from Rockwell’s but took home a piece of what was sold as Cardinal Red from Mark/David the boys from Florida who were there for a local show. Yes I was well aware of Cardinal Red, Cinnamon Gold Ruby, and other exotic colors and was already searching for them in 1974 and the old school dealers were trying to sell them.

Here we are 40 some years later. I have managed over the last four years to get corrected Persian Blue, Window Glass Green (Pale Green), Antique Green( blue gray), Celadon Green, Nile Green, Smoke and Royal Purple(not dark amethyst) while every one of these colors had already been mis identified by 4 of our leading authors. It has been very hard to get all of these corrected after they have been in print for years but I have persevered and all the changes have been accepted so far except for Cardinal Red. I promise all of you that day will come when Cardinal Red will be accepted as I have described it.

I was fascinated by the color range of the 5 S&W short wines. It has never left me.
Yes my first piece of Steuben was S&W.
Rande Bly,
Birmingham, AL