Imperial Pansy Purple Bowl with Electric Blue Iridescence
Description
"A Word About Electric Blue Iridescence" by David Richards, Cumbria, UK
It's a familiar conundrum about brightly coloured Carnival glass "is it electric or not?". The attribution of 'electric' is on a par with 'rare' as the most frequently used and incorrect terms found in eBay descriptions of Carnival Glass. Confusion is rife; I've heard it said, "if you have to ask it probably isn't", but if "it hits you in the eyes so strongly that you can spot it across a crowded room" it definitely is.
A lot of people seem to think that it's fair game to describe any Cobalt Blue pieces as electric just because they are a bright shade of blue. Others blast their Carnival to within an inch of its life with banks of high voltage arc lamps in an attempt to turn perfectly adequate normal pieces into electric starlets.
The truth is, that electric effects are all about the iridescence, not the base glass colour. Electric Blue with a predominance of blue shades is possibly the most common, but you can also find the electric effect on pieces where the colour is predominantly orange, red or green. The important thing is that the electric iridescence gives the piece a startling luminosity making it look as if it is lit from within. True electric pieces show this effect in natural daylight without any assistance from intensifying light sources.
The other common misconception is that Electric Blue has to be on blue base glass. Many of the most striking Electric Blue pieces were made by Imperial, who made very little blue glass. With Imperial, Northwood and Dugan, many of the best Electric Blue pieces are found on dark amethyst base glass. As a perfect example of this, I'm showcasing here my dark amethyst Imperial Pansy ruffled bowl, which has a brilliant multi-coloured electric iridescence, full of bright blue shades. I love the way this example sets the flower group against a contrasting golden stippled background, with the crinkled pansy petals highlighted in orange,
pink and blue. It's all so artfully realised you could almost think they were hand painted.
My personal preference will always be for pieces that show a multi-coloured electric effect, rather than, in the case of Electric Blue, examples that have an all over blue appearance, regardless of how bright the blue seems, although others may disagree. Another problem with truly electric iridescence, is that it's almost impossible to photograph in a way that comes near to the reality of looking at the piece in real life, because the effect is very much about the intense physical reaction of your eyes to the colour of the object when seen in three dimensions. It's little wonder some people claim that electrics give them eye strain and take comfort in the gentler tones of pastels!
A lot of people seem to think that it's fair game to describe any Cobalt Blue pieces as electric just because they are a bright shade of blue. Others blast their Carnival to within an inch of its life with banks of high voltage arc lamps in an attempt to turn perfectly adequate normal pieces into electric starlets.
The truth is, that electric effects are all about the iridescence, not the base glass colour. Electric Blue with a predominance of blue shades is possibly the most common, but you can also find the electric effect on pieces where the colour is predominantly orange, red or green. The important thing is that the electric iridescence gives the piece a startling luminosity making it look as if it is lit from within. True electric pieces show this effect in natural daylight without any assistance from intensifying light sources.
The other common misconception is that Electric Blue has to be on blue base glass. Many of the most striking Electric Blue pieces were made by Imperial, who made very little blue glass. With Imperial, Northwood and Dugan, many of the best Electric Blue pieces are found on dark amethyst base glass. As a perfect example of this, I'm showcasing here my dark amethyst Imperial Pansy ruffled bowl, which has a brilliant multi-coloured electric iridescence, full of bright blue shades. I love the way this example sets the flower group against a contrasting golden stippled background, with the crinkled pansy petals highlighted in orange,
pink and blue. It's all so artfully realised you could almost think they were hand painted.
My personal preference will always be for pieces that show a multi-coloured electric effect, rather than, in the case of Electric Blue, examples that have an all over blue appearance, regardless of how bright the blue seems, although others may disagree. Another problem with truly electric iridescence, is that it's almost impossible to photograph in a way that comes near to the reality of looking at the piece in real life, because the effect is very much about the intense physical reaction of your eyes to the colour of the object when seen in three dimensions. It's little wonder some people claim that electrics give them eye strain and take comfort in the gentler tones of pastels!
The Dave Richards Collection, Cumbria, UK
From the Editor: Please click the photos one more time to enlarge each one. You don't want to miss the gorgeours colors and the intricate details of this bowl. It's so pretty you can feel the "electric" ity! Christina
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