Hello Alan,

The comments in Gazelle Gazette #1937 were recently brought to my attention, and I would like to confirm the identification of the bowl in shape number 3379 as Antique Green, as correctly stated by Mr. Rande Bly. Antique Green has often been referred to as “Blue-Gray” or misidentified as “Sea Green.” To the best of my knowledge, Steuben never produced a color by the name of “Blue-Gray.” Rather, I believe that it is simply a descriptive term that has been applied by collectors to glass of this color. It is fairly safe to say that most Steuben glassware previously described as “Blue-Gray” is, in fact, Antique Green. I have gone back to look at the examples of “Blue-Gray” glassware on The Carder Steuben Club web site, and I would say that every piece shown is, in fact, Antique Green. On a personal note, it is probably my favorite Steuben color and, as far as I have seen, it is found only alone or with Amber.

As note by Rande Bly, the formulas for Antique Green in Carder’s notebooks (and there are over 40 recipes, many of them experimental trials) do not contain uranium. The first recipes for Antique Green appear in 1921, and the line drawing notations indicate that this color was discontinued by ca. 1923. Due to the wide range in the formulas for Antique Green, the glassware can vary in the contributions of blue, green, and gray to the overall color. Early recipes were based upon mixtures of Amber and Celeste Blue batch and cullet, sometimes with additions of Flemish Blue batch and cullet. These would have contributed iron (yellow-to-green colorant), manganese (purple colorant), copper (turquoise colorant) and optionally cobalt (deep blue colorant). Later recipes were formulated “from scratch,” and most were based on iron + copper + nickel or iron + copper + cobalt, each without manganese. Also, some Antique Green is based upon a potassium flint glass, and some on a sodium flint glass. I have had the opportunity to analyze a number of pieces of Antique Green using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and have found manganese-containing and manganese-free varieties, some based upon potassium flint and others on sodium flint as the base glass. This work was done in cooperation with the Corning Museum of Glass.

With Mr. Bly’s correct identity of Antique Green established, the light yellow-green glass objects that have, until now, been listed as “Antique Green” on the Club’s web site need a new name. I believe that the most (and perhaps only) reliable means for correct identification of these light green pieces is to determine their composition non-destructively using a portable XRF instrument. It may even be that there is more than one color name represented by the five objects that are presently depicted. I have analyzed two light-green goblets in the past (shape numbers 3138 and 3140), and both proved to correspond to an unusual, early Steuben recipe for Pomona Green, which is not to say that the same would apply to the aforementioned light-green objects on the Club’s web site. To my knowledge, the only Steuben transparent green glasses that contained uranium, and therefore fluoresce in UV light, are Celadon Green (previously referred to as “Window Glass Green” by some) and the many versions of Pomona Green.

I hope that this information has been helpful.

Best Regards,
Greg Merkel,
Corning, NY