Tuesday evening, April 17, 2012

From Terry Smith

Alan,

My two-cents worth in-reference to “heat checks,” the (fancy?) term itself made me chuckle. I am not a Carder-Steuben collector, but I have collected handmade American glassware often called “Elegant Glass of the Depression Era” for over 30 years. I have also attempted to learn as much as possible about the glassware, especially how it was made. “Stuck handles,” as was the common method of manufacturing an item in-need of a handle when that portion of the piece did-not (and often could-not) be present when the glass came out of its mold, are often a “problem” as the glass ages. I have been told, by those that I believed to be knowledgeable, that a difference in the temperature between the item/vessel and the handle (at the time of joining) is the cause of a future “internal fracture” at the site of the joint. Similar “experts” have also said that glass remains “unstable” throughout its lifetime. I suppose “we” can all agree that a small crack/fracture will only gets worse, once it first appears. (Think of automobile windshields, as an example.)

Many glass collectors have heard-of or experienced having a piece of (beloved) glass suddenly become damaged-or-cracked . . . while merely sitting in a cabinet. Sudden, or radical, changes of heat or light (which is heat) have been blamed. Of course stress caused by mis-handling, as mentioned by Mr. Fauster in his article, are also a prospective culprit. I have even heard of a glass item literally exploding while merely being displayed.

An excerpt from a journal published by the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) says:

A significant proportion of glass objects in museum collections are known to be actively deteriorating, irrespective of the storage or display conditions. Various terms have been used to describe the effect including sick glass, glass disease, glass illness, crizzling and weeping. The symptoms reflect the chemical instability of certain types of glass as a consequence of their manufacturing technology, such as over-purification of raw materials or poor batch formulation. A review of the literature indicates the wide range of approaches adopted to mitigate the problem. There are significant discrepancies between those that have been recommended in the past and those in the current conservation literature, indicating the need for further research.

I most-certainly agree with Mr. Fauster, especially avoiding the use of the term “mint,” and the collectors use of their own common sense when it comes to what is-or-is-not acceptable to them. Personally, I am willing to accept (very) minor manufacturing flaws such as an air-bubble or “straw mark.” (Straw marks can occur when the heat of the molten glass, called “hot metal” by glassworkers, is of a somewhat significant temperature than the mold itself. It sort of resembles a wrinkle or fold in the finished product.) Even though technically a manufacturing-flaw, a crack of any kind is a whole different scenario to me. I am not willing to pay other than a significantly-lower price for damaged goods. I most-likely want to be able to use the item, as originally-intended, or in another way. A crack would obviously prevent this criteria. Mr. Fauster’s suggestion of displaying a less-than-“perfect” item, in a manner where the flaw is not visible, is most valid . . . and would especially apply to an item known to be extremely unusual/hard-to-find/rarely-seen, and as an example for a museum. (Yes, I almost avoided using another unfortunate word – “rare.”) Dollars-and-cents (sense?) should be part of the decision, and always is to me. I also try to imagine that if the “quality control” department, of any given glassworks, would have rejected the item into the cullet pile then I don’t want it either.

Terry Smith, Signal Hill, CA

www.cardersteubenclub.org

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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.