Steuben Glass Works

Sotheby's New York, November 17, 1988, lot 613

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Both Carder’s and Tiffany’s glasshouses were well-versed in the creation of cameo vases, objects where a design, often in differing of colors, was formed in varying degrees of relief. The similarities ended there, as each company preferred very different production techniques. Tiffany’s cameos were usually created by padding, or applying, random colors of glass onto the body of the vase and then carving the motif with engraving tools.

Steuben, on the other hand, favored a much different approach and an acid etching room was established in 1906. After making an object with two distinct layers of glass, a pattern was stenciled on the piece with a resist, such as wax or tar, and the piece was then immersed for a couple of minutes in a hydrofluoric acid bath. The acid would dissolve the unprotected sections of the piece, resulting in a cameo design. This technique allowed Carder and his glassworkers very precise control over the final appearance of the object.

The two acid-etched pieces offered here were made in the 1920s as Steuben was attempting to find favor with changing tastes in post-war America. Lot 172, with a design of stylized white chrysanthemums on a translucent red ground, is exceptionally rare. According to Frank Blake, an early and knowledgeable Steuben dealer and from whom the vase was purchased, this is one of only two examples ever manufactured in this pattern. The other example, lot 170, is equally uncommon. The transparent and textured cobalt ground was overlaid with iridescent blue Aurene and etched to reveal a lower design of flying fish above swirling waves and an upper band of seagulls below undulating clouds.

-Paul Doros