Not really a collector of Steuben. Have a few pieces. I collect a number of things and also buy and sell. Got on this list because I occasionally come across pieces that aren’t on the website and provided photos. Seems like a small price to pay for such a valuable resources.

That said, I have a couple of responses and ideas. From what I see the auction market is far from dead for better pieces. Yes, I assume prices down from historic highs but that’s likely true across a lot of glass markets as well. It seems Cottone and Fointaine’s have the most regular high quality pieces.

As for stimulating collectors. On Facebook there are several highly active groups around glass. The Loetz Collectors Group and French Art Glass to name some specific ones and the Art Glass Collectors Group and the Heart of Glass groups more generally. People go to these groups to share finds and for ID help. I could find no groups dedicated to Steuben after a quick search. There was one on stemware that would cover Steuben. These groups have administrators that make rules for the group and in some case review posts before allowing them to be posted. Some require and ask to join and others are totally open to the public. The administrators are people who tend to be, or claim to be, experts in the various fields. Many groups have people who just starting their collecting adventures and are looking to learn. Some of these groups have several thousand people. I see two possibilities here. First start a group and build a community. That’s a tremendous commitment. Second join some groups (there are more than I listed believe also an America Art Glass Group) and make some posts of nice pieces you own and help with identification when Steuben gets posted. Some groups allow people to sell some allow to post pictures from other places like museums. I have been surprised how many active glass collectors there are out there. Many are just buying things they like and don’t have great knowledge. A good opportunity open their eyes to Steuben. You just need to join a few groups and engage to be successful.

Secondly, and clearly more ambitious, would be for a few of you who have crème de la crème collections to band together and see if you can get a museum to do an exhibition. If 4-5 of you could come up with 100 great pieces (basically doing the work for curator) who knows someone might nibble. I would suggest not a glass museum but shoot for a museum in a larger city. Exhibitions have been known to create interest, and rekindle interest. In the Loetz groups there is constant chatter about the few museums in the EU that have good collections.

Just my .02 worth. Hope it helps. Michael Kaiser

Back Yard Trick Correction

In the Gazette last week Rande Bly offered his “Back Yard Tricks” for identifying the color Persian Blue. He stated: “Persian Blue is the only Steuben Blue that glows bright green under a black light….It works every time and will never fail you.” Both of those statements are incorrect. Persian Blue is not the only Steuben Blue that glows bright green under a black light. Marina Blue also glows bright green under a black light. Since both colors react to a black light it is not possible to distinguish them with that method alone so the “trick” fails.

Scott Hansen