A lovely set of 8 Culver "Mardi Gras" jeweled rocks glasses. This pattern is the pinnacle of Culver! One of their most popular patterns during the Mid-Century and still incredibly popular today. Each glass depicts three different versions of a jester playing an instrument. In between the jesters are 22k gold "strings" broken by tiny gold starbursts, diamonds, dots and colored "jewels" (the jewels come in red, green, orange, and blue).
A quick summary about this glassware maker: Culver started the application of the 22-karat gold to their glassware. Fun fact: the super-heated, roll-on process of gold remains a secret today. Culver comes in a variety of patterns including gilded mushrooms, owls, cats, wildlife, Egyptian or Asian inspired design themes, scrolling leaf patterns, holiday designs, sports motifs and many others. The Mardi Gras pattern is one of Culver's harder to find patterns and is the essence of Mid Century Modern glassware style.
A bit about the Mardi Gras pattern: Culver made several variations of this pattern including a version with jewels as well as a version without jewels. The variation with jewels was made over the course of a few years and during that time the "back" or interior of each jester can be a light blue, a slightly darker blue or more of a light gray. Culver also made a non-jeweled version in the 1980s that had a yellow-ish/gold backing. The "textures" of the gold exterior Jesters also vary a bit, depending on the version, so if you're trying to match existing glasses, please send us a message and we can help confirm these are a match to yours!
Maker/pattern: Culver Ltd., Mardi Gras
Hallmarks: Please note, this pattern was not signed. Culver didn't sign a number of their patterns (likely to not interfere with the pattern) so again, these glasses/pattern do not bare the Culver signature. However, the later version (1980s) were signed.
Measurements: 4 1/4" tall x just shy of 4" in diameter
Condition: Very good vintage condition. All glasses have their jewels. The glass clarity is perfectly clear. There are a few manufacturing occurrences. Here's a summary:
1) There's one small extra "speck" of blue paint that made its way to the clear glass (completely common with Mid Century glassware and particularly this pattern)
2) Some of the jewels are perfectly "lined" up with their gold "string" (again, purely the nature of this Culver pattern)
***Please note: Mid Century glassware often has imperfections (i.e. tiny bubbles in the glass, or a tiny bit of residue where an extra bit of glue around the jewels when they were applied, an extra dot of gold on the glass, etc -- purely the nature of vintage glassware).
In short, these glasses are in very, very good vintage condition with minor manufacturing occurrences and display beautifully. Truly a stunning, magical set.
**On shipping: We take our packaging very seriously and carefully wrap all pieces well to ensure safe delivery. Please note: we are not making a penny on shipping. We pack our items securely to ensure safe arrival (especially our glassware, which means a larger, heavier box)! This set will be double-boxed.
****Important to note pre-purchase: Buyers, please examine all photos carefully as we cannot accept returns due to the fragile nature (the possibility of breakage when being shipped back) of our vintage/antique pieces. We try to explain the condition/description in an accurate and thorough manner but we ask that you please examine all photos carefully and ask all questions before purchasing an item as we are unable to accept returns due to the risk of breakage.