Tuesday, March 6, 2012

First, a few more comments continuing on the Kathleen Herdell last pair of featured shades that she questioned whether they were Steuben or not. Several wrote in to suggest they may be Fostoria which we published yesterday. Some more comments today.

The thickness of the glass which can be seen at the ruffled edges and the rich coloring of the gold in both the interiors and the wide feather outline are most certainly Fostoria. these can also be identified by the ground on the top fitter. this are probably 25% heavier than both a steuben and quezal shade.

Sincerely

Tom Walker

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Next, commentary from Beth Shaut of the Carder Steuben Glass Shop of Corning.

I just got a Steuben signed Green and Gold pull on Opalescent Shade like the one picture although it would be nice to see it without the reflection to verify.

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Tommy Dreiling started to raise questions about the authenticity of a Hunting pattern piece of glass acquired from oversees—no pictures available though.

Charles Sweigart of Reinholds, Pennsylvania suggests

Tommy,

since getting a picture of the glass is hard, make a pencil rubbing on paper of the pattern and take a picture of the rubbing as well as the piece. That might assist others to determine possible identification.

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Marshall Ketchum provides his thoughts on the Hunting pattern vase Tommy Dreiling commented on

Alan

In response to Tommy’s question I think that there is a certain amount of effort being made to reproduce some of Carder etched patterns. Some years ago there were a pair of etched pieces for sale on ebay that were in Italy if I remember correctly. They were a bright red etched in Medieval pattern. They soon disappeared and at least one showed up in a Skinner auction. Within the past few months one of them or one just like them was seen in a shop in Palm Springs. These clearly weren’t made by Steuben. More recently a similar piece has been seen that was a single color dark blue in about the same shape (probably 8571) and again in Medieval pattern. The background was very uniform and I suspect the pattern was sand blasted rather than acid etched. About 10-15 years ago in a collection in Washington state I saw a black pitcher that had an etched pattern with a great fleur-de-lis etched below the handle. This one would not be mistaken for Steuben nearly as easily as the two Medieval patterns that have turned up. I made a great mistake in not trying to get a photo of this one. I think that the answer to Tommy’s question is that there are bogus pieces being made and if they are being sand blasted under computer control they can be made cheaply enough so that someone can make some money.

It may be that Tommy’s piece is Black cased over Green Cintra. Green Cintra is not an uncommon color for an etched piece and might appear to be a mint green.

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2012 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 20-22, 2012.