Verre de Soie

Learning Never Ends

It should be pointed out that the footed bowl with the blue drag loop decoration in the upper left hand corner of the photo, is not Steuben. At a much later date we had determined that the object was probably English.
Bobby Rockwell

Photos, courtesy of The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY

While technically Vere d’Soie is not a colored crystal, the special iridized layer imparts to it a distinctive and unique, silky-smooth, delicately-iridized hue, from which its name is taken, Glass of Silk.

The distinctiveness of Carder’s subtle and delicate process is in its appearance, which is silky smooth. The tonal highlights are not harsh but quite soft and pleasing to the ocular senses. There are many products of European origin in antique shops, which at first appear to be Steuben Verre d’Soie. Upon closer inspection the iridized hues will predominate in harsh green and fuchsia with little gold or blue. The touch test will confirm it not being Steuben, for in all cases it is rough textured.

A further technical treatment of Verred’Soie was to have vases and other articles vertically ribbed, diamond quilted, as well as smooth. In some instances an air trap effect, identical to Mother of Pearl satin glass, was used.

from A Guide to Colored Steuben Glass 1903 – 1933 by Eric E. Ericson, pps.77-79