TIFFANY BLUE

By Bob Mueller

If Mr. Carder sought to start a war of collectors all he needed to do was use his arch rival, Louis C. Tiffany’s name for a color on his glass.

I went to the Rockwell Museum on vacation for many years and I never witnessed a piece of “Tiffany Blue” Aurene. Then about in the early 1990’s, Bob Rockwell showed me a new museum acquisition.

At first, I didn’t share a great deal of excitement for the piece. But as Bob and I talked I started to see a lot in the vase I hadn’t noticed.

This blue was so rich in color I just kept looking at the piece in great amazement. I had seen many pieces of Tiffany glass that had a similar color tone, but the Tiffany glass just didn’t have the great iridescent sheen of the Carder Steuben piece.

Over the years, I think I have seen perhaps 10 pieces of Carder’s Tiffany Blue go up to auction. The first piece went for about $2,500. Now days you need to mortgage your house for the chance at a piece of Carder’s Tiffany Blue.

When Mr. Carder created this color he really did a superb job, but it must have put Mr. Tiffany in a bad mood. Mr. Carder used some of the techniques he used on his Tyrian Glass of an Intarsia ring at the top of the piece and heart and vine decoration. (Actually, probably a proper description for the color is iridized dark jade blue over flint white vase decorated with Gold Aurene leaf and vine and Intarsia collar)

The color in Tiffany Blue tends to stay the same and not vary as Tyrian Glass does.

As I review all the types of the glass Mr. Carder made over his years at Steuben Glass, yes he had his every day colors (color crystals, some jades) but when you pick out his best (Intarsia, Tyrian, Rouge Flambé, etc) no-one can come close to his ability with glass, and Tiffany Blue demonstrates that.

Bob Mueller
Osseo, MN
May 13, 2010