Question

from John Styler of Prospect Heights, IL

On the Antique Road Show they appraised a Lalique falcon hood ornament. It was not the clear Lalique crystal but an amethyst color, The appraiser explained this happened because of the manganese in the glass and its exposure to ultraviolet light or sun light,

It was appraised at $5,000 to $6,000 and would be $1,500 to $2,000 at best if it were clear.

Now my question for the experts is did Carder use manganese in his process and if so are there any pieces that are known to have appeared different?

Capture Beauty

Objects of Desire, The Art of Frederick Carder by Alan Shovers

p. l07

Glassmakers for centuries have attempted to capture the beauty of agate, chalcedony, marble and other stones in their glass. While some of these efforts have met with a limited measure of success and have produced some very interesting glass, Mr. Carder’s work on Moss Agate is seminal. In this technique he accurately captured the beauty and incredible complexity of the semi-precious stone.

Achieving this technique required the incorporation of skills developed through the production of many of Moss Agate’s predecessors at Steuben. Moss Agate is most likely the only glass Mr. Carder attempted that needed four different layers of glass. A parison of Topaz glass was rolled on a marver of powdered glass in warm tones and white. After that was marvered into the Topaz, the parison was then rolled in coarsely crushed glass that included some fairly large chunks. Colors included Amethyst, Blue, Green and Red. Upon reheating, the larger chunks were hooked or pulled into shapes simulating the veining found in natural agates. The mass was again used to pick up mica flecks before casing it in an outer layer of colored or clear glass. Colors used were Topaz, Celeste Blue or Amethyst. An inclusion of very fine bubbles may be seen floating within this casing.

After blowing the gather into its final form, water was poured into the form, swirled and quickly poured out. This was a critical step that could fracture the glass. If all went well, it would create a network o barely perceptible cracks, mirroring that found in nature.

Moss Agate was one of the most complex, difficult and expensive gechniques ever produced at Steuben. Today, it is an extreme rarity, seldom found in any form other than lamps. Tan and Brown are the more common colors, with Blue and Amethyst being almost unobtainable.