Friday, March 16, 2012

Club President David Goldstein of Naples, Florida reports.

UNDOCUMENTED CARDER STEUBEN

Marshall Ketchum, our Webmaster, has added a new section to the Club’s website, www.cardersteubenclub.org, which includes undocumented Carder shapes. This section, which is listed as “Undocumented” on the Site Menu on the Home Page, will show Carder Steuben pieces that are known to have been made by Steuben but are not documented in the existing factory records. These pieces are known to be Steuben because color, blowing techniques and/or types of finishes that were known to have been used by Steuben but not by other manufacturers are present.

To quote Marshall, “Occasionally a piece of glass will surface that uses colors and techniques that Steuben used but the drawings cannot be found in the Gardner book or in the factory records. The pieces shown in this section are those that have been determined to have been made by Steuben even though the factory documentation has not been found.”

The existing factory records while extensive are not complete. There are gaps in the records both large and small. The large gaps may exist because some series of numbers were not used. This is probably the case for the numbers in the 4000 series. Small gaps may exist because the pages are now lost or because the numbers were not used. The records mention some numbers that were not assigned. These records are very important for the identification of Steuben. They consist of drawings, sometimes up to three or more versions, as well as size, color and cost information of the glass. The drawings in these records form the basis for the drawings shown in Paul Gardner’s book The Glass of Frederick Carder as well as the drawings on this website.

If you have pieces that you believe are Carder Steuben but cannot find the shape either in Gardner or on the website, please submit pictures of those pieces to Marshall for vetting and possible addition to the website. To be accepted as undocumented Steuben a piece must be a Steuben color and use techniques and finishes that were used by Steuben but not used by any other maker. We also welcome pictures of pieces in your own collection of examples that are not already pictured on the website.

Pictures and additional information such as size, signatures and other markings should be sent to Marshall at info@cardersteubenclub.org.

David Goldstein

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.