In 2003, as part of the centennial celebration of Steuben Glass, Corning historian and noted Steuben expert Thomas P. Dimitroff authored a series of articles for The Corning Leader. These thoughtful essays offered a retrospective look at Steuben across the decades, drawing insightful comparisons between the eras of Frederick Carder and Arthur Houghton.

Tom generously shared nine of these articles with our organization, and they are now available for viewing on our website. This issue of the Gazette highlights the fourth article in the series, dated July 6, 2003, in which Tom juxtaposes two very different, but equally compelling renditions of sea life.

In this striking Carder Steuben piece, nature once again takes center stage. Tropical fish glide through lush vegetation, inviting the viewer into a dreamlike, imagined world that is especially welcome on a cold winter day. One of Carder’s favored techniques was acid-etching, often called acid cutback (ACB) by collectors. Through this process, Carder was able to express both his love of nature and his mastery of color.

The beautiful contrast between the design and the base glass is achieved by casing two different types of glass. In this instance, amethyst is layered over alabaster. This complex technique required a great understanding of the glasses’ differing coefficients of expansion and contraction. The Tropic Pattern is a fine demonstration of Carder’s ability to marry a stylized Art Deco motif with a classic, symmetrically balanced vase form.

For the Houghton era example, Tom selected Sea Chase, designed by Lloyd Atkins in 1969. This striking sculpture captures the grace, beauty, and power of the ocean and its inhabitants. It also makes exceptional use of the physical properties of Steuben glass.

The piece is constructed in two separate sections. The base contains a light that enhances the brilliance of the wave and the dolphins, taking full advantage of Steuben’s purity and its ability to transmit and reflect light. The dolphins and wave were expertly engraved by Peter Schelling, who joined Steuben as an engraver in 1953. Born in Germany, he learned his craft there before bringing his skills to Steuben.

Sea Chase was originally issued in a limited edition of ten.

MORE ON CARDER’S MIDDLE INITIAL

After the last Gazette, we had a few people write in with comments on the signature that was found in the archway at the Wordsley School of Art.

I found this morning’s Gazette intriguing – especially the information from James regarding the Carder signature. To me, this looks like it could be  F. & G. Carder – for Fred and George Carder? — Bonnie Salzman

This signature actually reads “F. & G. Carder.”  There is no “K” involved, it is the common “plus” symbol used to signify “and”. Regards, David P. Donaldson, MFA

Cheryl Dartt shared some new information:

The conversation about Frederick Carder’s middle initial (or lack thereof) seems like a question that should be easy to resolve, but I found it fascinating that we have so many differing “proof” points. At the risk of adding even more to the confusion, I wanted to share some newspaper articles from the Corning area from when Mr. Carder was alive. Several of these articles over the decades make reference to “Frederick A. Carder” — claiming yet another middle initial! There is even a reference to “Frederick A. Carder Elementary School” in Corning, though as far as I can discern the school today is simply named “Frederick Carder Elementary School” with no middle initial. My own belief is that the inclusion of middle initial “A.” is likely to be error(s) by the reporter(s), but they offer another interesting detail to add to the mystery!

MEMBER ZOOM MEETING

A reminder that our next CSGA Member meeting will be on Sunday, March 22nd beginning at 3:00pm EDT.  As always, this meeting is a chance to catch up with other CSGA members and enjoy talking about glass together.  We will kick off the discussion by sharing some excerpts from recorded presentations that Tom Dimitroff gave a number of years ago.  We’ll follow that with “Show and Tell,” a chance for our members to talk about a piece from their collection.  To facilitate this sharing and ensure that we can all get a clear view of your beautiful glass, please send a photo of your item to gazette@steubenglass.org in advance of the meeting.  We’ll compile the images and display them during the Zoom call. 

Zoom details will be emailed to members the week before the meeting.  We hope to see you there!