Antiques
Glass Act
Talented artisans create one-of-a-kind colored art glass worthy of years of admiration

It’s the artistry and complexity of vintage art glass that intrigues Ivo Jones, interior decorator, antiques purveyor and the owner of House of Ivo in Conway. With a collection of more than 100 pieces of early 1900s works from companies like Steuben, Tiffany, Loetz and Rindskopf, each item has a unique story behind its equally fascinating look. “Although so many of these pieces look simple, the process of creating them is so complex,” says Jones. “Nothing that occurred while producing one piece happens with the next, meaning no two are alike.”

While the process for creating the glass itself is surprisingly straightforward—each piece is hand-blown—it’s the way the colors are produced that interests Jones. “When making these pieces, the artisans realized that they could add almost any mineral to the hot glass to create all sorts of colors,” he says. “And, this process means that the color is inside the glass, rather than applied later on the outside of the finished product. It will last forever.” To achieve the look of Steuben’s verre de soie, which means “glass of silk”, artisan Frederick Carder, who began his career with the company in 1903, sprayed the molten glass with stannous chloride—a tin chemical—to impart a soft, rainbow-like iridescence. Another popular style, Aurene, can be found in collections from Steuben, Loetz and others. Steuben’s Gold Aurene was created by Carder by spraying iron chloride at exactly the right moment while the glass was still hot, and Blue Aurene was designed in the same manner, but with the addition of cobalt to achieve the bold results.

Another hallmark of early art glass is the effect of threading. Steuben often incorporated this technique, which required the artist to hand-apply strands of molten glass to a finished work. Carl Radke’s Hung Hearts, which features a Blue Aurene finish with silver hand-applied hearts, is wrapped in silver threads that add unmatched texture and dimension. Another technique, called overshot threading, was a favorite with Pallme Konig, who created many pieces for Loetz. The process begins with a hand-blown vessel that has already been threaded. It’s then forced into a mold, which helps embed the veining into the vessel, rather than just applied to the surface. After the completed piece is cool, the mold is removed to reveal a very rare and intricate work of art.