Hi Alan,

If I could relate a story Carder told my father it may shed some light as why certain objects have certain names. As in the terms covered vase , covered compote, etc., these terms are found in the line drawings so we know that they were used at the factory and they are not collector’s terms for the 20th and 21st centuries. With that in mind let me retell my story. Carder had told my father that one of his biggest problems in merchandising his products to the American consumer was in naming the object. In England the customers would look at product as a work of art and therefor not worry about a function. A vase was a vase and a bowl was a bowl pure and simple. Not so with an American. In America an object had to have a function. There was no room for frivolous objects, therefor everything had to have a purpose. While growing up here I have seen many covered vases used to put hard candies in(it kept the flies off the candy). I can remember being shown a set of miniature compotes that were sold to the family as champagnes, miniature vases that served as toothpick holders and on and on. It made sense to people then; something that has lost to us now as our tastes have become more developed and moved away from our frontier attitudes. The buyer of 1910 to the 50’s is much different than the buyer today.

Best,

Bobby Rockwell