AFA 20th Anniversary

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 135 Fig. 6: Carder’s designs reveal his historical and global glassmaking inspirations. L to R: Pair of Celeste Blue and colorless candlesticks, ca. 1920– 33, gold triangle paper label “STEUBEN/MADE IN/CORNING, N.Y./U.S.A.,” shape 2956, handblown, optic-ribbed glass (TR81.2017.2A, B). Lent by the Thomas N. Armstrong III Family. Celeste Blue Matsu-no-ke decoration, applied rims, and colorless compote, ca. 1920-1933, unmarked, shape 3305, handblown glass (2018.20.21). Light Blue Jade center bowl with applied flint white ring handles and knob, ca. 1924–29, unmarked, shape 2942, handblown glass (2018.20.19). Light Blue Jade vase, ca. 1924–29, acid-stamped fleur-de- lis “STEUBEN,” shape 6112, handblown, cased glass (2018.20.53). treated with a series of metallic sprays and heat to create tiny lines that reflect and refract light and to produce a matte surface. Highlights of pink, violet, and green swirl across the surface as one’s eye shifts, creating the illusion of movement. Figure 6 shows a selection of works ref lecting the many inf luences on Carder’s work. The Celeste Blue optic-ribbed candlesticks and the clear Crystal and Celeste Blue compote reveal the inf luence of Venetian glassblowing and f lameworking traditions. Carder built upon his English training when designing the Matsu-no-ke compote. Matsu-no-ke translates as “Spirit of the Pine Tree” and refers to the naturalistic crimped and applied decoration. Stevens & Williams created and registered the name in 1884, responding to the period craze for all things Japanese. Throughout his career, Carder also designed forms inspired by ancient Greek and Roman glass, such as the Light Blue Jade and Alabaster center bowl with its ring handles. In addition, Carder designed his Jade glass colors to imitate Chinese porcelains and glazes as well as the qualities of the mineral jade. In this vase, outer layers of Blue Jade cover an inner layer of Alabaster, heightening the intensity and opacity of the shiny blue glass. Earlier in his career Carder had designed cameo glass for Stevens & Williams in England, a technique in which multilayered glass was engraved to create figural patterns, as with ancient cameos. At Steuben, however, he virtually transformed this process by creating Japanese, Chinese, and Art Deco-inspired patterns, such as the double-acid-etched Chang pattern in Plum Jade seen in figure 5. A beeswax-based resist was painted over stencils on the glass, which was then dipped in an acid bath. This cut away the surface and exposed the inner layer of glass, or, as in this example, created a lighter Amethyst where the inner Flint White gleams through the outer layers of acid-cut glass. Carder also drew upon historical glassmaking techniques to develop bubble filled Cluthra and Cintra glass (Fig. 7 and Fig. 12). For these popular Steuben wares, the molten glass was rolled on a marver, a smooth metal surface, covered in crushed glass. Those bits melted into the molten glass that was then stretched as the form was blown and shaped. In Cluthra, chemicals added to the crushed glass created bubbles. When they were deemed the correct