(The following is a revision of an article by the writer that was originally published in The Hobstar, Vol. 12, No. 3, Nov 1989.)
We all have had the experience: one buys an attractive piece of cut glass that looks American-made, hurries home to begin a search through the considerable amount of material that is now available for use as a tool for identification, only to acknowledge failure many hours later. Such was the case for this writer when he acquired the compote shown below. It certainly looks as though it could be American, but it is not.
It is almost certain -- although one can seldom be 100% positive, of course -- that the compote was made by Stevens & Williams of Stourbridge, England in the 1880s. This conclusion is based on the fact that the compote's pattern matches exactly the one shown on the decanter below, an item known to have been designed by Frederick Carder more than twenty years before his emigration to this country in 1903. Note that the fans that border the band of cross-cut diamonds on the decanter do not show up well in this photo, but they are there. These fans are much easier to see on the compote. However, the compote's cross-cut diamonds also presented a challenge to the camera.
The decanter's image is reproduced directly from Gardner's monograph on Frederick Carder where the decanter is said to be "The first of [Carder's] designs for cut glass to be accepted and produced [at Stevens & Williams], about 1881 ...". Prior to this "Carder was treated as an appredice. His work included copying new designs to scale in a special cost book and making full-size drawings of the cut and engraved patterns currently in production. Next he began designing original glass forms and cut decorations." (Gardner 1971, pp. 9-11. Photo: Raymond Erret) This suggests that both the shape of the decanter and its cut-glass pattern are original designs by Carder, but until the "cost book" can be examined there is an element of uncertainty (note 1). In any case probably none of the cut-glass motifs used by Carder in this pattern are original.
T. G. Hawkes, with others including Carder, established the Steuben Glass Work in Corning in 1903. Carder was responsible for the artistic direction of the company which was "chiefly a glassmaking factory rather than a cutting company" (Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, p. 195). He reproduced several Stevens & Williams products at the Steuben factory, but it is unlikely that the compote was one of them. It would have been stylistically old-fashioned in the years after 1903. And Carder was, after all, not exactly a friend of cut glass.
Although Carder acknowledged that cut glass could be well designed, he also considered many of the patterns produced in the Stourbridge district to be "the quintessence of vulgarity". But it should be remembered that negative comments about cut glass made by Carder, and recorded by Gardner, are from his mature years. In the early 1880s he was an apprentice designer not quite 20 years old. Carder might have disliked what he was doing during these early years, but he surely did what he was directed to do -- that is, design cut glass for what was referred to as "the old legitimate trade" (Wakefield 1982, p. 45). Gardner shows a few examples of Carder's work at this time. The cut-glass patterns incorporate cane, sharp diamonds, cross-cut squares, etc. After he moved to this country Carder continued to design rich-cut glass, but in what is now referred to as the "American brilliant-period" style. In addition, he continued to design engraved pieces in the insternational Art Nouveau style. After the First World War he shifted to a much more modern style of cut glass that can be strongly art deco (Spillman, in Dimitroff et al 1998, pp. 149-177. aaThis reference provides a comprehensive list of cut and engraved patterns; only a few are illustrated.)
The compote and decanter use fans, cross-cut diamonds, and a partitioned band of what has been called "alternate block diamond" by the Mt. Washington Glass Company. This latter motif is identical to "single-mitered cane", having been formed by the same four intersecting sets of parallel miter cuts. On the present examples the motif is reduced in scale compared to the example shown in the motifs6.htm file in Part 1, and the present motif has been rotated 45 degrees, in addition to having been partitioned. Unlike the cross-cut diamond, which, in its brilliant form, can be identified on glassware made as early as the 1820s (and has an even earlier precursor), the origin of the single-mitered cane motif is thus far unknown. Central Europe during the mid-nineteenth century is the likely source.
For the record the compote has a diameter of 7" (17.8 cm), is 4.5" (10.8 cm) tall, and weighs about 1.75 lb (0.8 kg). Its panelled "drop" stem has an air trap. The 44-pt star on its foot has rays of equal length. The glass-metal is flawless, has considerable brilliance, and is the equal to what was often made in this country during the 1880s. The decanter is about 10" (25.4 cm) tall.
Although English metal during the last half of the nineteenth century was not always up to the high standard shown by the compote (compare all those off-color pieces that turn up so often!), Carder himself acknowledged the high quality of English metal that could be produced at this time. In an interview in 1903, he compared American cut glass to the English product and concluded that the Americans "get a brilliancy such as was once the exclusive pride of the Stourbridge district" (Sinclaire and Spillman 1997, p. 14). He could well have had this compote in mind.
The compote was originally one of a matched pair. One was purchased by this writer from an antiques dealer in 1981 and resold soon thereafter. After discovering the Carder connection, a return visit was made to the dealer in search of the second compote. It was still with her and still firmly priced at $125. This second compote had been in the dealer's display case for at least eight years, sharing the first year or two with its companion. It is always something of a mystery why reasonably priced cut glass of quality fails to sell. But one will hear no complaint from this quarter!
NOTE:
1. It might be possible to resolve this uncertainty and to identify the pattern shown in this file by consulting material (including, perhaps, the original "cost books") available at the Broadfield House Glass Museum, Kingswinford, West Midlands, UK. The writer has written to the museum but has received no reply.
Updated 25 Aug 2007