Steuben Glass, “Louisiana”

The Steuben Glass series “The United States in Crystal” includes a central bowl to represent the United States plus fifty bowls, one for each of the states in the Union. Each state bowl has an image that represents its history, culture, or natural features. Artist Sidney Waugh designed the images and wrote brief descriptions providing background on the subjects. To choose the themes, Steuben Glass sought assistance. The firm reached out to the Institute of Early American History and Culture, an independent research organization in Williamsburg, Virginia, for advice on suitable subjects for each state. The theme of Mardi Gras for Louisiana is ideal because the celebration is such a distinctive aspect of the state’s culture. Mardi Gras is an official Louisiana state holiday, dating back to 1875.

For the image, Waugh depicted a King of Mardi Gras as the central figure. He likely found inspiration in photographs of the Krewe of Rex parade float from the 1950s. On the float, Rex (the King) sat enthroned under a canopy of a giant crown with drapery panels. In Waugh’s scene, Rex has a similar setting. Two costumed musicians flank the King and entertain with banjo, horn, and tambourine, emphasizing the importance of music in the celebration. Waugh stylized the figures and exaggerated their poses. His style creates an appropriate look for the holiday with its heightened theatricality.

Sidney Waugh prepared the following statement about the bowl “Louisiana.”

“Every state in the Union boasts of its special character and its local traditions. Louisiana has no need to boast. Its character and its traditions are so old and so unique as to attract the attention of the traveler, the gourmet, the gambler, the artist and the historian without benefit of instructions from the Chamber of Commerce.

Louisiana has its own style of architecture, its own cuisine, its own language and its own social customs. Among the last the most notable is the great fete of Mardi Gras. At the time of this pre-Lenten festival, kings and queens, both black and white, are chosen and carried in gay parades through the streets, music and revelry are the order of the day and hospitality is unbounded.

The New Orleans Mardi Gras is, without doubt, the greatest and most unique festival in America.”

“The United States in Crystal,” including “Louisiana,” is on view at the Stark Museum of Art as a standing exhibition.