Steuben Glass is an American

art glass Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with ...

manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by

Frederick Carder Frederick Carder (September 18, 1863 – December 10, 1963) was a glassmaker, glass designer, and glass artist who was active in the glass industry in both England and the United States, notably for Stevens & Williams and Steuben, respectively ...

and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the largest

cut glass Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...

firm then operating in Corning. Carder was an Englishman (born September 18, 1863) who had many years' experience designing glass for

Stevens & Williams Stevens & Williams was an English glass company located in Stourbridge, established in 1776 under the name of Honeybourne. It is one of the oldest crystal glass brands in England. In the late 1930's it became known as Royal Brierley, and mostly ...

in England. Hawkes purchased the glass blanks for his cutting shop from many sources and eventually wanted to start a factory to make the blanks himself. Hawkes convinced Carder to come to Corning and manage such a factory. Carder, who had been passed over for promotion at Stevens and Williams, consented to do so. In 1918, Steuben was acquired by Corning Glass Works and became the Steuben Division. In July 2008, Steuben was sold by

Corning Incorporated Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The co ...

for an undisclosed price to Schottenstein Stores, which also owns 51% of Retail Ventures, a holding company for DSW, Filene's Basement, and formerly Value City Department Stores; Value City Furniture, which changed its name to American Signature Furniture; 15% of American Eagle Outfitters, retail liquidator SB Capital Group, some 50 shopping centers, and 5 factories producing its shoes, furniture and crystal. On September 15, 2011, Schottenstein announced it was shutting down Steuben's Corning factory and Manhattan store, ending the company's 108-year history. Soon after, Corning Incorporated repurchased the Steuben brand. In early 2014, The

Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning, New York in the United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works and currently has a collection of more than 50,000 glass obj ...

announced that it would work with independent contractors to reproduce Steuben using a new, lead-free formula and their classic leaded crystal.

Carder period (1903-1932)

Steuben Glass Works started operation in October 1903. Carder produced blanks for Hawkes and also began producing cut glass himself. Carder's great love was colored glass and had been instrumental in the reintroduction of colored glass while at Stevens and Williams. When Steuben's success at producing blanks for Hawkes became assured, Carder began to experiment with colored glass and continued experiments that were started in England. He soon perfected Gold Aurene which was similar to iridescent art glass that was being produced by

Tiffany Tiffany may refer to: People * Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name * Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname Known mononymously as "Tiffany": * Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress kn ...

and others. Gold Aurene was followed by a wide range of colored art glass that eventually was produced in more than 7,000 shapes and 140 colors. Pair of Steuben gold Aurene candlesticks

Pair of Steuben gold Aurene candlesticks

Steuben Glass Works continued to produce glass of all sorts until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. At that time war time restrictions made it impossible for Steuben to acquire the materials needed to continue manufacture. The company was subsequently sold to

Corning Glass Works Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The co ...

and became the Steuben Division. Carder continued as Division manager without any real change in the company's operation except that he now had reporting responsibilities to Corning Glass Works' management. Corning's management tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to limit the articles that Steuben made to only the most popular. Production continued until about 1932. In 1932, there was a major change in Steuben management. The nationwide depression had limited the sale of Steuben and there was a lessening of public interest in colored glass. In February 1932, John MacKay was appointed to Carder's position. Carder became Art Director for Corning Glass Works. Steuben then produced primarily colorless art glass. Steuben still produced colored art glass, but mostly to fill special orders. A few new colors were added after Carder transitioned into his new role with Corning Glass Works, but the last known sale for colored art glass by Steuben was in 1943.

Houghton period (1933–2012)

Corning Glass Works appointed Arthur A. Houghton Jr. as President in 1933, and under his leadership Steuben changed artistic direction toward more modern forms. Using a newly formulated clear glass developed by Corning (referred to as 10M) which had a very high

refraction index In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or ...

, Steuben designers developed beautiful, fluid designs. Pieces such as Gazelle Bowl, designed by Sidney Waugh incorporated

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

and

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

themes into glass. The themes during this period included "balustrade" designs for water goblets and candlesticks, footed bowls and serving pieces. Decorative forms included wildlife pieces representing owls, penguins and other birds in smooth stylistic forms. Some pieces, such as the Ram's Head Candy Dish, playfully included clean lines crowned by an ornate design (a ram's head, complete with a ruff) on the lid as an homage to its classic earlier pieces. The company also entered into the field of larger show and presentation pieces celebrating various scenes (such as its cut-away design featuring an Eskimo ice fisherman above the ice, and the fish below, or the Cathedral Window design) and elements that incorporated etchings. In some cases sterling silver or gold plating were used on metal finish elements such as the golden "fly" atop the nose of a rainbow trout. Each piece is signed simply with "Steuben" on the underside of the object. Toward the 1990s, the company also began production of small objects—"hand coolers"—in various animal shapes. Items from this period were also noted for their careful and elegant packaging. Before boxing, each Steuben piece was placed in a silver-gray flannel bag (stitched with the Steuben name), and then placed in a presentation box.

Designers

Many highly respected glass designers have worked for Steuben Glass, including: *Peter Drobny *

Kiki Smith Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a West German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS and gender, whi ...

*Peter S. Aldridge *Lloyd Atkins *Inka Benton * James Carpenter *Robert Cassetti *Neil Cohen * Dan Dailey * Michele Oka Doner *David P. Dowler *John Dreve *Paul Haigh *Eric G. Hilton * James Houston *Clain Johnson * Beth Lipman * Dante Marioni * Keith McCarter *Ted Muehling *Donald Pollard *Taf Lebel Schaefer *Paul Schulze *Joel Smith *George Thompson *

Massimo Vignelli Massimo Vignelli (; January 10, 1931 – May 27, 2014) was an Italian designer who worked in a number of areas including packaging, houseware, furniture, public signage, and showroom design. He was the co-founder of Vignelli Associates, with his ...

* Sidney Waugh * Albert Wein *Teri Weidner *Bernard X. Wolff *Rush Dougherty

Notable appearances

*Four Steuben pieces, including Gazelle Bowl, were added to the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1938. *Steuben was shown at "The World of Tomorrow" exhibition at the New York City World's Fair in 1939. *The Merry-Go-Round Bowl, Audubon Plates, and a pair of Steuben candlesticks were presented to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on the occasion of her wedding. The bowl and plates were presented by President and Mrs. Truman on behalf of the United States. Since then, and as of 2020, Steuben has been presented as a gift of state by every U.S. president. *Steuben was the only American glassworks to be included in L'Art Du Verre, an exhibition at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Museum in Paris, where over 150 pieces of Steuben were shown. *The glass bowl in the

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

film '' The Golden Bowl'' (2000) was designed by Eric Hilton at Steuben Glass. *Steuben glass bowl is mentioned as a wedding gift to the newly married Charlotte York-Macdougal in the 3rd season, episode 13 of

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United St ...

. *

President Bartlet Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character from the American television serial drama ''The West Wing'' created by Aaron Sorkin and portrayed by actor Martin Sheen. The role earned Sheen a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Televi ...

broke a Steuben glass pitcher in ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' episode "He Shall From Time To Time...". * Sterling Archer broke some Steuben glassware in episode ten, season one of ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

''. *In "Christmas Bells", the Act 1 closer of ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', the ensemble commiserates over their lack of access to classic Christmas tidings, singing "No Steuben glass / No cappuccino maker /...No 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire'". *The glass slipper in the Cinderella Castle Suite at

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

is made by Steuben Glass. *A Steuben glass egg plays an important part in the movie ''

Risky Business ''Risky Business'' is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Brickman (in his directorial debut) and starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. Best known as Cruise's breakout film, ''Risky Business'' was a critica ...

''. *Steuben crystal appears a number of times in the apocalyptic novel

Lucifer's Hammer ''Lucifer's Hammer'' is a science fiction post-apocalypse-survival novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle that was first published in 1977. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978. Two issues of a planned si ...

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's ...

and

Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960 ...

, where it serves as a metaphor for the fragile beauty of technological civilization. *Steuben glass is mentioned throughout Neil Simon's farce

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...

, which debuted in 1988. *Six Steuben glasses were given to Rose Weismann in the 3rd season, episode 8, in the 2019 Amazon production of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Carder period (1903-1932)

Houghton period (1933–2012)

Designers

Notable appearances

See also