Or’Verre

from Collector’s Favorites #55, September 2003 by Neil Kohut

His (Frederick Carder’s) “Venetian” period was popular with the public, but his mind was always exploring. In 1915 he created Cintra and two years later enhanced it with this wonderful variation which is alternately called controlled Cintra and Or’Verre. The vertical stripes added a focal point and an incredibly timeless modernity to the glass.

It was not achieved easily. This was to be one of the more difficult and complex glasses yet produced at Steuben. After blue powdered glass was picked up on a gather of clear crystal, the glass was blown into a ribbed mold. This created alternating vertical ribs of blue and clear glass. This gather was then rolled on a marver covered in powdered pink glass. The ribbed high spots of clear glass picked up the pink glass leaving the recessed blue ribs untouched. The gather was then cased in more clear crystal and blown into its finished shape. Keeping the stripes vertical, separate and straight required a skilled gaffer. The added complexity needed to produce this technique probably accounts for its rarity today

Or’Verre Vase

Height 10 inches

Pink & Blue Controlled Cintra with Applied Mirror Black Rim

Shape #3218