Thursday, March 22, 2012

REFERENCING THE WEBSITE ON EBAY

The acceptance of the Shape Gallery on our website as a means for referencing pieces of Carder Steuben is both good news and bad news. The good news is that it indicates that collectors and dealers recognize and accept the Shape Gallery as a good reference tool, much like the Gardner and Dimitroff books. The bad news is that dealers and auction houses may act as though the inclusion of a piece in the Shape Gallery is a guarantee of authenticity.

The primary purpose of this Gazette is to clarify how the Shape Gallery may be used as a reference and what is implied by the inclusion of a picture of a piece in the Shape Gallery. The preferred way to reference the Shape Gallery is to say something like “A similar piece is pictured as Shape XXX in the Shape Gallery on the Carder Steuben Club’s website, www.cardersteubenclub.org.”, or to put a link to the website and the specific piece in the listing.

The inclusion of a picture in the Shape Gallery is no guarantee of its authenticity. The Webmaster and Vetting Committee use their best efforts to avoid including pieces that are not Steuben in the website. The vetting process that we use (which is described on the website) is based on pictures that are submitted to the Webmaster. We do not handle actual pieces so we cannot see the actual color, feel surface texture or weight, examine pontils, verify signatures, or do any of the other things that a good glass appraiser would do to authenticate a piece.

Our basic ground rules are that if we are in doubt as to whether a piece is Steuben, we will not add it to the Shape Gallery. This policy applies to everyone. I myself had a piece that I am confident is Steuben rejected by the Vetting Committee.

In the last few months we have had a dealer on eBay copy a picture from the website as a way to authenticate a similar piece. We have since modified the website to prevent the copying of pictures. More recently, we had another dealer allege that the inclusion of a picture of his piece in the Shape Gallery was confirmation by the Club of its authenticity. In each instance I promptly contacted the seller and asked that they correct the listing. One seller was cooperative, the other was not. Copies of my initial messages to the two sellers appear below.

Message to person copying a picture:

I am the President of the Carder Steuben Club and, in that capacity, request that you promptly remove the picture of the perfume which you acknowledge you copied from our website from this listing. You may refer people to our website but you do not have the Club’s permission to copy material from our site. The bottom of the page containing the picture you copied states “This information is provided by the Carder Steuben Club, Inc. for individual personal use only. All rights are reserved. No use of the images and photographs on this site is authorized without the express written consent of the Carder Steuben Club, Inc.”

Message to person claiming confirmation of authenticity:

I am the President of the Carder Steuben Club and take exception to the statement in your listing that THESE ARE THE PAIR THAT WERE CONFIRMED BY CARDER STEUBEN CLUB. You may state that a vase in this color and shape is pictured on the Club’s website but the statement that your vases were confirmed by the Club is false.

The website and its contents are the intellectual property of the Club, and it is the responsibility of the Board and officers to protect the Club’s interests in that property.

David Goldstein

President

www.cardersteubenclub.org

2012 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 20-22, 2012.