Shapes

abstract from the Thomas P. Dimitroff Foreword (p. 5) in the text, Frederick Carder’s Steuben Glass, guide to Shapes, Numbers, Colors, Finishes, and Values by the late Marshall Ketchum.

Collectors of Carder era Steuben are presented with an array of glass exhibiting tremendous varieties in color, types of glasses, decorative techniques, and styles. Carder was, indeed, a most prolific designer….All of this offers glass lovers challenges and potentials in collecting his glass by color or type of glass, by shape number or type of object or by any one of numerous other possible groupings. This richness of variety, opportunity, and choice also presents collectors with problems, especially in the identification of Carder Steuben glass.

The single most important factor in identifying Carder Steuben pieces is shape. This is because throughout the company’s history, Steuben has kept fairly complete records including accurate line drawings of their objects. These line drawings are readily available to collectors particularly through two publications: The Glass of Frederick Carder by Paul V. Gardner and Steuben Glass: American Classics by Thomas Dimitroff…. Care must be taken by users to understand that shape alone cannot usually guarantee a positive identification of an object. Such identification of Carder Steuben objects is a process that should involve several of many factors in addition to shape alone, including colors, types of glasses, decorative techniques, and signatures.