Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: loveglass on May 16, 2012, 12:44:05 AM
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Could These be Steuben or Stevens Williams White Alabaster? I don't know high end glass at all, I have never even heard of Stevens and Williams before. The green color is so close to Steven and Williams but I can't be sure. The pontil is rough. Thanks for any help!!
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http://bid.igavelauctions.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=2556110
I've inspected the piece in the link above, and was surprised by the rough pontil, as I expected it to be Steuben, and generally thought that Steuben always polished out their ponits.
Then I found the mark, as shown in the link. This happened well before the piece was listed and I have no connection with the auction house.
I don't know about the vase, but I suspect it's the same as the footed bowl.
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Thanks so much Robert.
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Robert, I did some researching on glass by Carder and lots of info. I do believe that these items are Steuben blown by Carder.
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Unlikely that they were actually blown by Carder; he was Steuben's founder and manager
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Yeah, Frederick Carder was a designer who worked in concert with his glassblowers and chemists to create the pieces produced at Steuben. Like Louis C Tiffany, he didn't produce any glass himself for Steuben.
(After he was pushed out of Steuben by its new owners in the 1930s, he did take to making pate de verre sculptures himself, but they are exceedingly rare to the point that you're never going to see one outside of a museum.)
Carder is a fascinating figure, in part because his exceedingly long life lead to a very long and varied career.
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IMHO the mark on the piece shown in the auction is likely spurious. The Steuben block letter acid stamp is generally quite a bit more distinct with very clean lettering. Steuben marks are forged quite a bit...... Identifying the shape from the extensive line drawings would be the key to attribution of these items.
Some Steuben pieces have rough pontil marks, but generally found on pieces with deeply recessed pontil marks that can not be accessed with the tools necessary to polish it. There may be exceptions, but I have seen very few rough Steuben pieces....
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I've been sitting on the sidelines on this topic. I would suggest that the OP visit
http://cardersteubenclub.org/ for further information. I have over the years sold seven pieces of Alabaster/Jade & Alabaster/Rosaline & in each case they carried the Steuben’s pre1932 acid stamped mark consisting of a fleur-de-lis with the word Steuben within a banner as do the vast majority of pre-1932 Steuben art glass pieces. Also with the exception of very high domed footed pieces the vast majority of pieces have highly polished pontils. Exceptions though exist, especially stemware.
Then there is this. In the mid 1980's an import firm from the U.S. (whom obviously I will not name) imported Steuben Alabaster & opaque combos from Italy...Seguso was suspected as the manufacturer, but as far as I know never proven. These pieces were good & I mean good copies in both design & color, however two issues were spotted, #1 they carried a block Steuben signature not particularly well done, none carried the fleur-de-lis signature & #2 the Alabaster was too white & too translucent. I remember it caused a stir to say the least in the market & this was pre-modern WWW so word was slow to spread, you have to be old enough to remember sometimes to remember these things.
I'll close by saying that the OP should seek out professional assistance from someone specializing in Steuben or ask the experienced individuals from the Carder Steuben Club regarding this issue, especially since none of us here can actually hold the piece in our hands from close examination. My opinion only.
Edited: This is the groups URL for Steuben signatures, both legit & not so legit.
http://www.cardersteubenclub.com/aboutus/about-view.cfm?category=Signatures