Mr. Carder’s Cauldron

Friday’s Gazette (#2367) provided several definitions of what acid etching is and its mechanics. Today we look at Mr. Carder’s evolution to acid etching and what it meant to him.

In the late Nineteenth Century the English were making incredible carved glass works of art fashioned after the ancient Portland vase. These cameo glass pieces were being crafted while a young Frederick Carder was applying his ideas to the production at Stevens & Williams. He worked under the tutelage of the highly respected John Northwood.

He and Mr. Northwood designed and crafted some of the finest cameo glass ever made; and a team of expert glassmakers rarely assembled up to that time executed other examples, some of which look weeks to carve.

This was the cauldron that forged Mr. Carder’s love of glass and its intriguing play of light and color. Cameo glass was so cost prohibitive that many glass house started using acid cutting, at first combined with wheel polishing and detailing, and later just acid cutting. Most of the glass produced was repetitive and gradually faded from favor; that is, with the exception of the works that Frederick Carder was producing at Steuben.

Most of the colors and techniques he created for Steuben ended up in the treasured acid cut pieces. The process was timeless, but the style was all Frederick Carder. Nowhere is his skill and talent better revealed than in the vast array of acid cut pieces.

Objects of Desire, The Art of Frederick Carder by Alan Shovers @ p.68

Shape #2683

Gold Aurene Vase Cut to Black

Norfolk Pattern

8 1/2 Inches High