Steuben Glass Sculpture of Aphrodite

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Steuben Glass Sculpture of Aphrodite

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Steuben Glass

Steuben Glass Works is the most illustrious name in American art glass. Its vividly colored Art Nouveau and Asian-style wares produced in the early 20th century as well as later modernist works rendered in flawlessly clear crystal are objects of striking beauty and delicacy.

The Steuben Glass Works was cofounded in 1903 in the town of Corning, New York, by Frederick Carder, an alum of celebrated British glassmaker Stevens & Williams and a self-taught English chemist and glassmaker. Carder was a restless experimenter, constantly creating new color formulas that resulted in a wide array of hues, from milky jades to his iridescent Aurene shades. A favorite Carder technique was to acid-etch decorative patterns into pieces made of glass layered in different colors. The forms of his vessels were relatively conservative. Most are based on classic Chinese pottery; many display the flowing, naturalistic lines of the Art Nouveau period.

The larger local firm Corning Glass acquired Steuben in 1918. The company’s approach to art glass changed radically in the early 1930s, when Corning chemists devised a new type of crystal known as 10M, with perfect clarity and brilliant refractive powers. Corning decided that, henceforth, all Steuben decorative objects, vases, sculptures and other wares would be made from the crystal.

Art glass was made in two formats: molded and polished abstract sculptures and figurines, or pieces for which artists used Steuben crystal as a sort of canvas. The first such artwork was sculptor Stanley Waugh’s 1935 Gazelle Bowl, a vessel etched with brawny Art Deco animal forms. In later years, Steuben would invite artists that included Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Isamu Noguchi to “paint” in the firm’s crystal.

Steuben glass comes in myriad forms and is available in a broad range of price points. Jewel-toned glasses and tableware from the Carder era include candlesticks marked at $300 and full dinner services for more than $10,000. Small crystal figurines bring around $1,000, while larger sculptures are priced in the neighborhood of $7,000.

Steuben glass, with its impeccable artistry and timeless grace, deserves a place in any collection.

Find antique Steuben glass and other furniture on 1stDibs.

This Steuben sculpture, titled Arcus, was designed in 1977 by British sculptor and designer Peter Aldridge (b.1947). Aldridge was graduated with distinction from London's Royal College of Art and worked as artist-in-residence at Steuben in 1977. A recipient of Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, Aldridge went on to be appointed Steuben's Vice President and Creative Director. Aldridge began working as CEO of Scotland's prestigious North Lands Creative Glass center in 2007 before returning to New York in 2010, and currently serves on Steuben's Board of Trustees. His works are held in the permanent collections of London's Victoria & Albert Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass among other notable museums, and are also in private collections throughout the world. This striking geometric Aldridge sculpture has been given design number 0217 and is made from cast, cut and polished lead glass. The angular piece has a multifaceted construction consisting of a series of triangles, squares and rectangles which have been expertly cut and polished. The piece was included as one of a select number of nonjuried designs in the 1984 exhibition "50 Years on 5th - A Retrospective Exhibition of Steuben Glass." It is also worthy of note that an engraved version of this crystal sculpture titled "Peace Crystal" was given to late President Anwar El Sadat and late Prime Minister Menachem Begin...

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