The Gazelle Gazette seeks to cover the many interests of its mailing list. Recently one of our readers complained that we weren’t focusing enough justice to cover Frederick Carder as a premier American glass artist. In response to that comment the Gazette has added a number of Collector Choice Reviews, critiques published by The Rockwell Museum from 1988 to 1998. These monographs focused on the various author’s Carder favorites and the aesthetic reasons why. In response to that coverage that reader of the Gazette responded.

“Your shift to more a more substantive and informative style for the Gazette affords Carder’s work the status it deserves.

“There was nobody working in glass in the 20th Century who had as much innovative range and technical sophistication. This was good and not so good.

“The good part is Carder combined his technical knowledge with creative genius to take glassmaking to new heights. Would the subsequent studio glass movement have been possible without Carder having paved the way? The godfather of that movement, Harvey Littleton, owed a lot to Steuben and to Carder.

“Carder was unique as in addition to art glass he designed everyday tableware and an infinite assortment of decorative accessories. The not so good part for collectors of rare Carder pieces as many glass historians too often confuse the rare with the plentiful. Not to disparage the beauty of the practical objects, but had Tiffany produced as much tableware as Carder did would his status also have been diminished?

“Were a major museum such as The Metropolitan Museum or the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum to mount a retrospective of Carder’s work it would bring this engaging and uniquely American glass art to a whole new audience and validate Carder’s place in the hierarchy of decorative arts. Let’s hope this will happen as it is long overdue.

“A big thank you for focusing on the artistry of Carder Steuben.”