Our latest new member is a result of a gift of a membership in the Carder Steuben Club from a member of the club. What a lovely idea to consider. Just click on the Membership button at the bottom of this e-mail and you can sign up for a gift membership at $35 for a single membership or $55 for a couple. Just let us know by replying to the Gazette e-mail how you’d like to handle letting the recipient know who and what the gift is.

And Yet Another Superb Plaque Designed by Frederick Carder, but not on display

Colorless lead glass; cire perdue technique. Rectangular round- cornered low profile panel with low relief motif of cherubs at play; satin finish on front; polished back; unmarked.

The collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, bequest of Gladys Carder Welles

A Great Question

Alan; this may be a dumb question but I’m asking it anyway; we have seen all the beautiful plaques, how are they done? John Styler

John, many plaques are cast by the cire perdue method that Carder developed, in his retirement. Some plaques and luminors are cast from a traditional mold through a pressing technique, and examples can be found pictured in Gardner’s shape index, page 208. e.g. Edison Plaque, or Abraham Lincoln plaque. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can expound. Such input would be helpful and instructive.

The bulk of the plaque pictures featured in the Gazette come from the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. Most of the plaques that have been shown in the Gazette are not on display, and therefore not familiar to Carder collectors. The Museum has been most helpful in photographing plaques at the club’s request, for the Gazette’s presentation of plaques in the last few months.

While I’ve lost count of the number of these artistic plaques, I would guess there may be close to a 100. There are other plaques that may be in private hands or The Rockwell Museum’s collection. In addition, we’ve just focused on plaques; There are any number of additional detailed three dimensional items produced by the cire perdue method as Mr. Carder refined his experimentation of this ground breaking technique. I hope our readers have expanded their appreciation of the range of Carder’s artistic skills, by exposure to this largely unknown cache of his sculpturing plaques.

Alan Shovers