A Word of Caution

I (Alan Shovers of Evansville, IN) recently came across what I thought was an interesting admonition on relying upon provenance in identifying Carder Steuben glass in Tom Dimitroff’s book, Frederick Carder and Steuben Glass. In section 10 captioned “UNDERSTANDING STEUBEN”, and at page 229, the text reads:

“Frederick Carder would have had to have lived in a warehouse if every piece of glass said to have come from his home had actually been there. Such is the problem of provenance, especially word-of-mouth provenance, which can so easily be innocently or intentionally misrepresented. Many times, families of glass workers testify in good faith that their glassworking father or grandfather must have made an item at Steuben as it had been in the family for as long as anyone can remember. These people’s convictions do not take into consideration the fact that many glassworkers liked, appreciated, and studied a variety of glass objects and often owned pieces produced by many different companies. Honest mistakes such as these are probably less frequently encountered than blatant misrepresentations by dishonest individuals for the purpose of enhancing the value or salability of items. Because of these problems, provenance alone is not a strong means of identification unless accompanied by irrefutable documentation not only of the ownership of the piece, but its production source.”

Webmaster’s Selection
This is an interesting compote. It is shape 3325 and is 6″ high and 6″ in diameter. There is no drawing for this compote in the factory records but the information for the 3325 stemware includes the comment “Comport to match 3325 Goblet. Crystal ruby lines. Round stem & 2 ruby buttons. 8.50Ea”. This compote is almost certainly the one described here. Shape 3325 was made with rose, black, blue or green decoration.