Upstate Auction Company is holding a glass auction on Friday, September 20 at 7:00 pm in conjunction with the Carder Steuben Symposium.

Preview begins at 5:00 pm

The auction takes place at the Corning Museum of Glass Auditorium.

The Auction Catalog is ready!

Here’s a link to a printable version:

http://www.cardersteubenclub.com/aboutus/files/PrintableAuctionCatalogB1.pdf

Absentee and phone bidding can be arranged by calling Upstate Auction Company at (607) 425-4444.

Internet bidding is available through Hi-Bid at:

https://upstateauction.hibid.com/

Preserving Glass History

Hi, Alan –

Dick Weerts’ concern about the Olsen Collection is one that is shared by both collectors and the museums tasked with preserving glass history. I know that it is one that that is of great importance to the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia, at which I volunteer as the director.

We have some 18,000 pieces of glass on public display — but that is is probably only about a third of the 50,000 or so pieces of glass that we own. So why do we continue to accept donations? There’s no simple answer, but a variety of considerations that go into our collections policy.

One is preservation. While I certainly get Mr. Weerts’ disappointment at the idea of taking pieces off the collectible market, the simple fact is that we get many of our donations — even of high-end collections — because at the end of the collector’s life, much of the time their heirs have no interest in the glass. Ideally, in a situation like that, the glass will go to a reputable auctioneer and continue to live on as prized possessions in another collection, but all too often the kids just want to get rid of it as quickly as possible and comprehensive collections end up in yard sales or at the Good Will.

Which brings me to reason number two for why our collection is so much larger than we can publicly display: All of our glass is available for study and/or photography by researchers, writers, or historians. That is why we are loath to break up collections that have value in toto that the individual pieces might not necessarily possess.

And ideally, the publicly displayed pieces in the museum should be frequently rotated, so that each visit to the museum is a fresh one, no matter how often our patrons return and that is something we endeavor to do, within the limits of being a basically all-volunteer organization with limited staff, plus we do try to put up special displays on a regular, rotating basis.

I know this doesn’t respond to all of Mr. Weerts’ concerns, but I hope it puts things in a slightly different perspective.

Tom Felt

Photographing Glass: Highly Reflective Black Objects, Part 1

Thanks to Scott Hansen for passing this workshop article along. Photographing mirror black objects is one of the most difficult and humbling challenges photographers face.

The Carder Steuben Upcoming Symposium program and registration materials are also on the Club’s website.

Registration forms

Hotel information