Steuben Sterling Silver-Rimmed Engraved Verre de Soie Iridescent Vase

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Steuben Sterling Silver-Rimmed Engraved Verre de Soie Iridescent Vase

About the Item

This baluster shaped vase is made of special iridescent glass called verre de soie or “glass of silk” that was invented by Frederick Carder at Steuben.. The Corning Museum of Glass says that "it rainbow-hued iridescence resembles that of a soap bubble." The vase has been etched by the T.J. Hawkes Company, in a neoclassical style design featuring ribboned-tied flower and foliate swags interspersed with a simpler ornament of lotus. The 3 1/2" silver collar, likely manufactured by Gorham is masterfully decorated in a coordinating design. Steuben shape: 1210 From the Steuben Carder Club website: Frederick Carder (1863?1963), a gifted English designer, managed Steuben Glass Works from its founding in 1903 until 1932. At the age of 14, Carder left school and joined his family?s pottery business in Brierley Hill, England. He studied chemistry and technology in night school. In 1879, he became fascinated with glassmaking after visiting the studio of John Northwood, where he saw Northwood?s cameo glass replica of the Portland Vase, the most famous piece of ancient Roman cameo glass. One year later, on Northwood?s recommendation, Carder went to work as a designer at Stevens & Williams, a large English glassmaking company. There, as Northwood's chief assistant, he experimented with glass colors and designs. Carder moved to Corning in 1903 at the invitation of Thomas G. Hawkes, owner of Steuben. For the next 30 years, Carder had a free hand in designing that firm?s products and developing new colors and techniques. In 1932, when Steuben?s new president decided to concentrate on colorless glass, Carder left Steuben to become design director of Corning Glass Works. There he oversaw such large-scale projects as the making of cast panels for Rockefeller Center in New York City. As an octogenarian, he created smaller cast glass sculptures and other one-of-a-kind pieces. Carder?s glassmaking career ended in 1959, when, at the age of 96, he finally closed his studio and ?retired.? During the 82 years in which he worked with glass, he produced many works that are dazzling in their virtuosity. Together, they include hundreds of colors and techniques. From the Corning Museum about Thomas G. Hawkes & Company: T.G. Hawkes & Co. (circa 1880-1959) specialized in cutting fine brilliant cut glass and tableware. The company was established by Thomas Gibbons Hawkes (1846-1913). Born in Ireland, Hawkes immigrated to Brooklyn in 1862, and then moved to Corning to work for the Hoare and Dailey Cut Glass Firm. He opened his own cut glass firm in 1880. This firm, T.G. Hawkes & Co., soon became famous for quality wares. Hawkes' glassware was used in the White House from 1885 until 1938. In 1903, he brought Frederick Carder from England to establish the Steuben Glass Works.

Creator:
Steuben Glass (Manufacturer),Frederick Carder Steuben (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Diameter: 5 in (12.7 cm)
Style:
Neoclassical (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Glass,Engraved
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1920-1929
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1920
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU4641214695512

Shop All Steuben Glass

Steuben Glass

Steuben 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, 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 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. As you will see on these pages, Steuben glass, with its impeccable artistry and timeless grace, deserves a place in any collection.