Tyndall effect
from Rande Bly of Birmingham, AL

I do not like to use the term Selenium Red. I am not aware of any formulas for a color by that name. Technically it all is a combination of selenium and cadmium anyway. Cerise Ruby has a much more elegant sound to it and tends to suit my pleasure. Some of you may prefer to refer to it as Selenium Red as it is commonly known. It seems to me the evidence is overwhelming that Cerise Ruby Mousselene is not the exact same color as regular Cerise Ruby. I would have to say it looks more orange and a teeny bit lighter shade of red. The color is slightly different than normal in the Jade Green, Ivory, and Alabaster Mousselene pieces also, as I have shown. The pieces show an opalescent additive when carefully viewed. We know by factory records that Mousselene comes in melon ribbed pieces and a ribbed pattern called ripple. If you noticed in the center of my melon ribbed Mousselene centerpiece bowl the glass was no longer fully transparent. It was turning slightly translucent. Yes a side effect of the Opalescent additive called the “Tyndall effect in opalescent glass”. John Tyndall was a famous and prominent scientist working in the 1850’s to 1880’s and discovered why the sky is blue. His studies involved the scattering of light and it’s effect on color. Right down Carder’s alley.

There is another vase that seems to answer some questions. Shape 2909 is in the 1932 catalog. In the “Finish” column there are 4 different entries. There is:

1). “Plain” (this is no optic ribs).

2). “Eng. Gray” ( this is unpolished copper wheel engraved pattern with no ribs/ i.e. Grape etc.).

3). “Ripple” (this is same optic rib as Mousselene but no Mousselene additive).
4). “Mouss.”( this is Ripple vertical optic ribs in the Mousselene style with the opalescent additive)

Does everyone understand that the most common vertical optic ribbed pattern we see in Mousselene glass is called Ripple? Mousselene is not a description of optic ribbing as presently taught. The optic ribbed pattern already has a name and it is Ripple! Mousselene comes in Ripple and in Melon Ribbed. This leaves only one option……..Mousselene is a glass type. It must have the properties of a “Moussline” Drapery. Why did Mr. Carder fail to pass on this information? Well, I guess no one ever asked or he would have told us. He never knew his glass would rise to such notoriety. As the story goes he personally answered to the effect of” If I had known my glass would have turned out to be so important I would have signed every damn one of them”.

Today I will show three pieces of Cerise Ruby Mousselene. They are My Melon Ribbed Mousselene 6200 Centerpiece Bowl, Cerise Ruby Heavy Mousselene 7431 Vase, and a Cerise Ruby Mousselene 2909 Ring Handled Vase in the ripple pattern. Yes, they all have too much orange for normal Selenium Red. You will clearly see the swirls of the suspended opalescent glass in the center of the melon ribbed piece.