LAMPS
By Robert Mueller

Those who know me know one thing; I have a deep love affair with Steuben lamps.

It doesn’t matter if the Steuben Glass is Cintra, Jades, Aurenes, Quartz or Acid Etched. I deeply appreciate the complete beauty of the piece of Steuben Glass that has been assembled with complimentary fittings that will then enhance Mr. Carder’s glass creation.

I went through Paul Gardner’s book looking at glass made for lamp manufacturers who provided fittings and marketed lamps with Steuben Glass. I found more than 250 catalog numbers that likely were sold for table lamps. This suggests to me that Mr. Carder considered lamps as an important extension of his work coupled with wide public demand for these lamps.

I find nine lamp companies that probably bought Steuben glass shapes to complete the creation and sale of table lamps. The best known names are Roy croft, Handel, Crest, Almco and Art Lamp, seem to be the leading companies where we find Steuben Glass. In most lamps that I have seen, the fittings are excellent examples of the work done by these lamp companies.

The fittings typically were made of brass, silver, bronze, nickel or a combination of two or more of these elements. I have had brass, silver and nickel in combination. You can also find fittings with wood bases and tops, or some form of plastics. You can also find ceramic flowers as decorations and figures of animals used in support of the glass. What I know is that Carder’s glass coupled with handsome fittings work to complement one another and make an outstanding finished product.

A friend of mine summed it up well when delivering a speech about lamps where she said ”The glass that Mr. Carder made was an excellent example of his ability, But once you turn that piece into a lamp it now stands by itself. By adding the extra dressing to the glass moves it into another class.”

In all my years of collection that lamp that has impressed me the most is the Pegasus lamp. Oh, if I only had one. Perhaps someone who has one will submit a picture for this audience to see.

In the link below I have chosen some representative samples to show a variety of different fittings used with a variety of glass types. Whether it be a simple acid etch in the yellow jade lamp, or the Fircone design in the Blue Aurene and Pomona Green lamp, when you look at the glass coupled with the fittings used you can see the entirety of the glass and fittings blend so well together.

See attached link for the following lamps

www.kddk.com/alans/lamps.pdf

Blue Aurene/Pomona Green-Fircone decoration
Yellow Jade-Sculptured
Gold Aurene-Two piece
Peach Quartz-Matted Surface
Purple Aurene—Applied heart and vine
Orange Cintra

Bob Mueller
April 2009
Osseo , MN