The Gazelle Gazette
The Newsletter of the Carder Steuben Club
October 2001 Volume 1 Number 1
In this issue:

First Newsletter Welcome
Who we are

Notes from the 2001 Symposium:
[] Election of Club Directors
[] Membership and Membership Dues
[] Travelling Carder Steuben Exhibition
[] Presentation by Marshall Ketchum on cross-referencing Carder
Steuben publications and valuations
[] Carder Steuben Exhibits in Corning N.Y.
[] Max Erlacher studio visit
[] Mr. Rockwell Book
[] Identification Clinic and Auction
[] Our Website
[] Future Newsletters
[] Future newsletter topics
[] Contact us

First Newsletter

Welcome

We are pleased to present this first issue of the Carder Steuben Club newsletter, The Gazelle Gazette. The title of this publication, The Gazelle Gazette, has been used in response to the adoption by the Club of the Carder Gazelle as its official symbol.
This publication is presented as a means of disseminating information within the Club and, in this vein, it is hoped that Club members will help this to become a conduit for the presentation of ideas, opinions and technical information related to Carder Steuben glassware in all of its forms.

Who we are

This document is the product of the pooled resources of several Club members, namely Karen Ohland, Vivienne Richards, Lon Knickerbocker, David Jacobson and Mark Ockwell. We hope that you will find it to be informative and that you will provide us with feedback so that we can fine-tune the document to best suit the needs of the Club members.

Notes from the 2001 Symposium

The 2001 Symposium of the Carder Steuben Club was held at the Corning Radisson Hotel on September 14 and 15. As a consequence of the terrible events which occurred in New York City and Washington D.C. during the week proceeding the Symposium, several Club members who had planned to attend were unable to do so due to the shutdown of the nation’s air space. Those who did attend were essentially those living within a reasonable driving distance. Although the aura of the terrorist attacks was not absent during the Symposium, the attendees appeared determined to carry in spite of this with that enthusiasm for Carder Steuben which is the hallmark of this organization.

The Symposium was organized by Dick Bright and a committee of assistants that he struck. A special thanks must go to Mark Buffa and Jim Barlow for the extensive work that they did in the preparation for the Symposium and the long hours they put in each day ensuring that the daily events took place without a hitch. Their ‘Is it Steuben?’ table of Carder Steuben clones, copies and outright forgeries was especially well received.

Election of Club Directors
An election of the inaugural directors was held during the Club business meeting on Friday afternoon. A summary of the nominees and the election results are as follows.

President: Dick Bright
Vice President: David Goldstein
Also Nominated:
Mark Buffa
Sandy Gadient
Secretary: Ruth deLorraine
Treasurer: Albert Bradke
Also nominated:
Beth Shaut
Web Master: Jim Barlow

Membership and Membership Dues

Club membership stands at 86 of which 6 are charter members. The topic of membership dues was discussed and the executive committee will review the current structure. Suggestions from the meeting attendees were received by the committee to reduce the cost of membership dues and possibly incorporate associate and institutional memberships.

Presentation by Marshall Ketchum on cross-referencing Carder Steuben publications and valuations

Marshall Ketchum presented a detailed publication cross-referencing and valuation project which he has been working on. Using published line drawings and reference photographs in the Gardner and Dimitroff books with the addition of historical auction sale prices for individual pieces, Marshall has produced a tabular summary for the complete range of Carder Steuben glassware. A detailed article on this project will be published in a future newsletter.

Travelling Carder Steuben Exhibition

A submission provided by Sandford Gadient was distributed to the business meeting attendees regarding a travelling exhibition of Carder Steuben glass. This is a very comprehensive proposal, and encompasses all aspects of Carder Steuben (200 pieces in total). Individual pieces would be solicited from Club members for inclusion in the exhibition which is anticipated to cross the country between June 2003 and July 2004. Sandy Gadient should be contacted directly for further information.

Carder Steuben Exhibits in Corning N.Y.

Escorted tours were conducted of two new exhibits assembled by Tom Dimitroff of Carder Steuben glass in the town of Corning. One of these has been installed in several display windows along Market Street and the second is situated in Building B of the Corning Museum of Glass. The Market Street exhibit covers the major eras of Carder Steuben with some excellent representative samples of Frederick Carder’s work. In terms of bringing Carder Steuben to the attention of the general public, the placement and execution of the Market Street exhibit is first-rate. The Museum of Glass exhibit is extensive in its depth and in the number and quality of objects which are on display. Photographs of both exhibits are available on the Club website.

Max Erlacher Studio Visit

With the cancellation of a scheduled guest speaker, the Symposium organizers were left with a hole in their schedule to fill. Kitty and Max Erlacher stepped forward and offered to host a visit to their facility outside of Corning. Situated in rolling hills along a nicely twisting country road, the atmosphere and presentation of Max’s studio and workshop made for a wonderful side excursion. It was interesting to learn that Max manufactures the majority of his engraving and grinding tools himself – such is the hallmark of a true artisan. A display of some of his past projects and a demonstration of his current engraving and repair work served to illustrate the care and pride that Max takes in his work. Kitty and Max are planning to showcase Max’s own work in the future. Details will be provided in a future newsletter.

Rockwell Book

Betty Wahlig provided a summary of the book that she has written on Mr. Rockwell. Betty is planning on having the book published, and has solicited support from the Club hi pursuing this publication venture. The club agreed to open a fund with an initial donation of $1,000 and a commitment to purchase one book per club member upon publication. Further individual donations may be made by club members at their discretion. Donations can be sent to Club Treasurer Al Bradke at 7 Riverside Street Binghamton, NY 13904. The final cost of the book has not yet been set, however it would appear to be in the range of $15 – $20 each.

Identification Clinic and Auction

The identification clinic and glass auction were enthusiastically received, as always. The donations to the auction were perhaps the best ever for this event and included a stunning gazelle lamp, a pair of matched acid cut back lamps, two acid etched bowls and a beautiful assortment of aurene and coloured crystal items.

The identification clinic drew forth an unusual acid etched yellow jade fan vase base (unfortunately damaged) and several Steuben finds. Many thanks to Kitty Erlacher, Beth Staut, Mr. Rockwell and Bobby Rockwell for sharing their expertise and humour at the clinic.

Our Website

The Club’s webmaster Jim Barlow has gone to great lengths to set up and launch a website for the Club (http://brokenshards.homestead.com/CarderSteubenClub). As anyone who has assembled a website knows, this consumes a lot of time and judging by the appearance and content of our website, Jim’s efforts have been well spent. Jim was modest in accepting accolades during the Symposium for his work, however given the speed with which photos from the Symposium have appeared on the website, Jim’s commitment is clearly evident. We would like to convey to him our thanks for this.

Future Newsletters

Future newsletter topics

We welcome your ideas for future newsletter topics. It is input from the Club membership that will enable us to produce newsletters that are both interesting and pertinent to the Carder Steuben collector.

The newsletter will be produced quarterly, with the next issue planned for January, 2002.
Topic suggestions need not be related to Club matters. We welcome questions and especially articles which involve specific Carder Steuben items, historical issues or technical matters (such as manufacturing techniques, reproductions, authentication, preservation, etc.).

Contact Us

Newsletter comments, articles or suggestions can be submitted electronically to the newsletter committee:

Vivienne Richards:
Mark Ockwell:
David Jacobson:
Karen Ohland: ohlandk@asme.org

Articles should be in WordPerfect or MS Word formats

Submissions by regular mail may be sent to the Club c/o P.O. Box 145, Corning NY 14830 or directly to Vivienne and Mark at 162 Church St., Stouffville, Ontario, Canada, L4A 4T5. Articles and submissions are vetted by all members of the newsletter committee prior to publication.