Alan, Greetings. I found five of these sherbets? in a thrift store the other day for 50 cents Canadian each. I suspected that they might be Carder work. I have searched the club’s Shape Gallery and Gardiner’s book. The closest item that I can find using amethyst and transparent is 2680 with the amethyst stem and no underplate. Gardiner has 2680 as a goblet. These pieces measure 2.5″ across base like the 2680 in Shape Gallery. However, other dimensions aren’t in line drawing. These pieces are just under 3.25 ” high, 3 and 7/8 ” across top. The pontil is finely ground and about 7/8″ across. Any help appreciated?

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for Prosperity to all our American friends. Regards, Jeremy Hayes

Response to Jan

Alan –

The colorless vase shown by Jan Baer in yesterday’s Gazette is shape 7797 and the line drawing in Madigan at page 325 identifies it as a Small Flower Urn designed in 1937. That puts it outside the Carder era. I own the same vase and my vase has a diamond point inscribed script “Steuben” signature which is consistent with a post-Carder design. Given the date of the line drawing and the colorless glass, this is almost certainly made by Steuben and is not a Hawkes blank.

Jan mentions that Hawkes used many Steuben blanks. That is true. In fact, Steuben was originally formed by Hawkes and Carder to produce blanks for Hawkes. However, Bettye Waher in her book, The Hawkes Hunter, identifies 14 companies (in addition to Corning Glass Works and Steuben) that supplied glass to Hawkes during the company’s existence – 9 domestic companies (Duncan & Miller Glass Co., C. Dorflinger & Sons, H. C. Fry Glass Co., A. H. Heisey Glass Co., Libbey Glass Co., Pairpoint Corp., H. P. Sinclaire Co., Union Glass Co., and United States Glass Co., in Pittsburgh, Pa. and Tiffin, Ohio and 5 international companies – Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat, France, F. & C. Osler, England, Stevens & Williams, Ltd., England, Val-Saint-Lambert Cristalleries, Belgium and Thomas Webb & Sons, England). So, when evaluating a Hawkes piece there are multiple possibilities for the source of the blank.

Waher also states that most of the blanks purchased by Hawkes were made to Hawkes’ specifications and, in the case of Tiffin and Steuben, Hawkes supplied the glass formula. Which raises the question, if the design and material were supplied by Hawkes to Steuben, is craftsmanship alone enough to qualify the blank as a Steuben blank?

Scott Hansen