A lovely set of 4 Culver "Mardi Gras" jeweled glasses/tumblers. 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 is either a light blue or more of a light gray. These are the blue backs version.
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.
Measurements: 5 1/2" tall x 2 3/4" in diameter
Condition: Very good vintage condition. The gold is vibrant. The glass clarity is perfect (no cloudiness). We're pretty Type A about summarizing the exact condition of our items, so here's a glass by glass summary:
Glass 1- Very minor gold loss (mostly to the edges of the jester's hat/fringe); there's some glue residue around some of the jewels (100% common with this Culver pattern)
Glass 2 - 1 missing jewel (and there's a rough spot you can feel with your finger where the jewel used to be); no gold loss
Glass 3 - There's some glue residue around some of the jewels (100% common with this Culver pattern); there's one very subtle scratch in the glass; no gold loss
Glass 4 - There's a "dot" of extra glass on the rim (we tried to capture this in photo #9) that basically looks like a small clear bump, completely common with Mid Century glassware; Very minor gold loss (mostly to the edges of the jester's hat/fringe
Lastly, the "blue" backing shows through the gold in a few places (again, completely common with this Culver pattern and occurred when the gold got applied).
The above might sound nit-picky but we like to be thorough when it comes to our MCM glassware, mostly to emphasize that Mid Century glassware was made very differently than modern-day glassware! Truly a stunning, magical set that displays beautifully.
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, the jewels are perfectly aligned, etc -- purely the nature of vintage glassware).
We have other sizes in this pattern, if you're looking for a larger set. See other listings!
**On shipping: We take our packaging very seriously and carefully wrap our sets/pieces to ensure safe delivery.
***Your shipping address: Buyers, please ensure your shipping address is correct/updated when you check out! Your purchased item(s) will get shipped to whatever address is entered at the time of checkout or that's previously on file!
****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. Cheers!
>>> IMPORTANT UNPACKING INSTRUCTIONS/PROOF OF ORDER ACCURACY & SHIPMENT: on orders with MULTIPLE pieces please note that if your order has more than one item/piece in it (so multiple pieces such as a set of jiggers, cocktail picks, tags, Julep cups, combined shipping orders, the screw cap on a flask or shaker, etc.) please take care to thoroughly empty the box and unpack ALL pieces which may be hidden in tissue paper, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc. We cannot be responsible if you accidentally throw one of your items away! We WILL be able to confirm with 100% certainty that we shipped ALL pieces in your order as we photograph/document ALL PIECES in the box it ships in along with the buyer’s order receipt, shipping label, and tracking number (in case we need to verify that all pieces were shipped once the package has been received). Thank you for shopping with us and cheers!
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 is either a light blue or more of a light gray. These are the blue backs version.
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.
Measurements: 5 1/2" tall x 2 3/4" in diameter
Condition: Very good vintage condition. The gold is vibrant. The glass clarity is perfect (no cloudiness). We're pretty Type A about summarizing the exact condition of our items, so here's a glass by glass summary:
Glass 1- Very minor gold loss (mostly to the edges of the jester's hat/fringe); there's some glue residue around some of the jewels (100% common with this Culver pattern)
Glass 2 - 1 missing jewel (and there's a rough spot you can feel with your finger where the jewel used to be); no gold loss
Glass 3 - There's some glue residue around some of the jewels (100% common with this Culver pattern); there's one very subtle scratch in the glass; no gold loss
Glass 4 - There's a "dot" of extra glass on the rim (we tried to capture this in photo #9) that basically looks like a small clear bump, completely common with Mid Century glassware; Very minor gold loss (mostly to the edges of the jester's hat/fringe
Lastly, the "blue" backing shows through the gold in a few places (again, completely common with this Culver pattern and occurred when the gold got applied).
The above might sound nit-picky but we like to be thorough when it comes to our MCM glassware, mostly to emphasize that Mid Century glassware was made very differently than modern-day glassware! Truly a stunning, magical set that displays beautifully.
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, the jewels are perfectly aligned, etc -- purely the nature of vintage glassware).
We have other sizes in this pattern, if you're looking for a larger set. See other listings!
**On shipping: We take our packaging very seriously and carefully wrap our sets/pieces to ensure safe delivery.
***Your shipping address: Buyers, please ensure your shipping address is correct/updated when you check out! Your purchased item(s) will get shipped to whatever address is entered at the time of checkout or that's previously on file!
****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. Cheers!
>>> IMPORTANT UNPACKING INSTRUCTIONS/PROOF OF ORDER ACCURACY & SHIPMENT: on orders with MULTIPLE pieces please note that if your order has more than one item/piece in it (so multiple pieces such as a set of jiggers, cocktail picks, tags, Julep cups, combined shipping orders, the screw cap on a flask or shaker, etc.) please take care to thoroughly empty the box and unpack ALL pieces which may be hidden in tissue paper, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc. We cannot be responsible if you accidentally throw one of your items away! We WILL be able to confirm with 100% certainty that we shipped ALL pieces in your order as we photograph/document ALL PIECES in the box it ships in along with the buyer’s order receipt, shipping label, and tracking number (in case we need to verify that all pieces were shipped once the package has been received). Thank you for shopping with us and cheers!