(3) Signed American Art Glass Decorative Objects. The tallest is a jack-in-the-pulpit vase signed and dated '06 by Carl Radke, with a Phoenix Studio label on the underside. The second smallest has a white milky exterior with an iridescent blue interior and foot, signed S. Lundberg Glass Art and dated 2001 on the underside. The last piece is a perfume bottle with stopper, signed indistinctly and dated 12/01 on the underside.
Size: (largest) 15 x 8 1/4 x 5 in.
In 1972 James Glenn Lundberg (1949-1992) opened a small glassworks studio in Davenport, California, transitioning from ceramics to glassmaking after being inspired by Dr. Herbert Sanders’ lectures on ancient luster techniques. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest hand-blown facilities in California after they became the first to successfully reproduce the colors and patterns of the highly acclaimed Tiffany Studios. Mark Cantor helped Lundberg build four melting furnaces, five glory holes, and two torchworking areas, as well as a complete grinding setup and lamp shop that was regularly producing six days a week by the end of their first year, and in the late 1970s Steven Lundberg came to train under his brother. Brothers David and Daniel Salazar’s along with Chris Buzzini joined in 1974, increasing their ability to decorate and create more unique and delicate pontil work, and in 1976 the team was rounded out by James and George Shaw, who worked primarily as cutters and polishers. In the 1980s a massive collection of their work had been acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, as well as Gumps and the Nature Company, and President Ronald Reagan ordered 250 of their World Weight Earth Globe pieces in 1989, which were given to visiting dignitaries around the world. James Lundberg’s tragic death in a bicycling accident in 1992 led Steven to take over the company along with James’ widow Rebecca, producing new designs and motifs to this day.
Master glass artist Carl Radke, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1950, founded Phoenix Glass Studios in 1975 in Harmony, California. The studio specializes in handcrafted, Arts and Crafts style hand-blown luster glass lighting, lamps, and decorative vessels, and Radke is world-renowned for pioneering iridescent surfaces and pulled-feather motifs in an attempt to revive the Louis Comfort Tiffany style. After first uncovering some lost techniques while studying at Glendale College and then graduating from the Brooks Institute of Fine Art in 1971, Radke has since produced thousands of original luster glass designs, and his studio has served as an important training ground for notable glassmakers on the Central Coast, including artist Eric Dandurand. The company recently celebrated its fiftieth year, with Radke still working along with assistance from his wife Stephanie to constantly evolve his style and continue the Art Glass Renaissance he helped begin.
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