[Vwoolf] "Green" lustres

Sat May 1 08:53:24 EDT 2021

(1) I don’t really understand the difference between the different types of glass: cut glass, lead crystal, cut crystal, and so on, but I don’t see why they can’t all be coloured.  However, someone in the listserv has sent me an excellent example of what I was looking for:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.rubylane.com/item/1866992-113221/Pair-Electrified-Antique-Green-Glass-Girandoles__;!!KGKeukY!gESSE9hHS8puOLycZQI3llar9ImRvKl49YnYfggWUdMWLN_25DfuL0iZb3Iv-Pb5BSA$ 
In any case, if the vase/candlestick is of green glass and the lustres aren’t, the light bouncing off the former will reflect and refract greenly on/through the latter.

(2) I thought, we all know who wrote “The Custom of the Country”, why give the author? – and then I thought . . . whoops!  (And I’ve read far more Wharton than James.)

Stuart

From: Neverow, Vara S. 
Sent: Saturday, May 1, 2021 12:53 PM
To: Stuart N. Clarke ; vwoolf at lists.osu.edu 
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] "Green" lustres

Based on the link you provided, the drops seem to be cut crystal. If so, they probably would not be tinted green. Perhaps the green light of the lustre lamp itself is refracted through the clear crystal and thus pools on the mantel. 

Vara 

Vara Neverow
Department of English 
Southern Connecticut State University 
New Haven, CT 06515
203-392-6717

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, May 1, 2021 4:55:00 AM
To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Subject: [Vwoolf] "Green" lustres 

“As he reached the landing he saw that the ballroom doors were open and all
the lustres lit.” (ch. XLVI, “The Custom of the Country” by Henry James)

“The pointed fingers of glass hang downwards. The light slides down the
glass, and drops a pool of green. All day long the ten fingers of the lustre
drop green upon the marble. The feathers of parakeets--their harsh
cries--sharp blades of palm trees--green, too; green needles glittering in
the sun. But the hard glass drips on to the marble; the pools hover above
the desert sand; the camels lurch through them; the pools settle on the
marble; rushes edge them; weeds clog them; here and there a white blossom;
the frog flops over; at night the stars are set there unbroken. Evening
comes, and the shadow sweeps the green over the mantelpiece; the ruffled
surface of ocean. No ships come; the aimless waves sway beneath the empty
sky. It's night; the needles drip blots of blue. The green's out.”

If you don’t know what a lustre is, you’ve got no hope of understanding what’s
going on in “Green”.  I presume the image is of a lustre on a marble
mantelpiece, which is where they tended to be placed.  I have been searching
online for images – they nearly all appear rather revolting to me – and I 
can’t seem
to see any with green fingers (also referred to as "drops"), and I’m not 
sure I can count up to 10:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Furldefense.com*2Fv3*2F__https*3A*2F*2Fwww.ecosia.org*2Fimages*3Fq*3Dgreen*20victorian*20lustre*20glass__*3BJSUl!!KGKeukY!h_g_tpWFAVyWfXTButSTtjR2b8_wL9PS4kRNiwvYGOOBYnilNMEmtoesEtCFFvyd8co*24&data=04*7C01*7Cneverowv1*40southernct.edu*7Cb3564599855c40ac942d08d90c7ed3eb*7C58736863d60e40ce95c60723c7eaaf67*7C0*7C0*7C637554561130728528*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C1000&sdata=wtDAS18cYgMUP9yUTfTAj2YTnUa7efctS*2FaJoByA5Pk*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUqKiolJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!KGKeukY!gESSE9hHS8puOLycZQI3llar9ImRvKl49YnYfggWUdMWLN_25DfuL0iZb3IvZ5_plB8$  

Stuart
(Day 410) 

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