The Steuben Cardinal Red plate is here and it is everything I expected and more. What a work of art! I have waited to spill all the beans until I could purchase one of these Steuben plates.(it took 40 years)

I realized not everybody has Eric Ericson’s books so here is the info he wrote about Cardinal Red about 50 years ago.

” If one is ever fortunate enough to ever chance upon Cardinal Red either signed or unsigned ,there certainly will be no mistaking it. I do not recall ever having seen this particular shade of red in any domestic or imported ware. At first glance Cardinal Red is quite close to the Rouge Flambe shade of red, decidedly so. However, on close inspection it has a character unlike that of any Cardinal inspired crystal, for while red and very transparent when held to the light there is a most discernible swirl which appears to be caused by an infusion of a denser material which gives it the visual effect of a translucent glass. It is quite possible that this effect was deliberate and caused by the addition of an opalescent white glass.” Ericson Book Two page 39.

During a personal conversation I was having with Eric 40 years ago I asked him what colors I should look for. He told me first hand about the 2 rarest colors he had taken to Carder personally for identification. They were a Rose du Berry bath salts jar and a Cardinal Red plate. He told me Carder told him he had copied the Rose du Berry color from Serves Porcelain and that Cardinal Red was the most difficult and most rare color in transparents he ever made. Ericson told me to look for pepto- bismol pink and transparent Rouge Flambe to find them. Ericson did not identify Cardinal Red, Mr. Carder did it for him. I was just starting at 19 years old. I did not understand fully but I never forgot what he told me. Today I understand fully.

Let me describe the work of a genius that I see before me. I have taken 60 pictures of the plate and 55 of them show a different color and a different transparency. It is dichromatic. It holds an additional characteristic I have not ever seen in any other glassware in the world. The plate holds all three properties of being transparent, translucent, and opaque depending on the angle of viewing and the angle of the light source. The color cardinal red is not unique to Carder but is world famous. Color charts show that Cardinal Red varies into about 6 shades. The plate shows all 6 shades in different conditions. Sunlight affects it’s color. No wonder it was so confusing. Every time in the past that I had seen a picture it was different. Here are 4 pictures of my plate showing it’s ability to display these different properties.

Rande Bly

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