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The Carnivale. The name evokes images of color and movement, of mardi gras or a masquerade. It’s something different to everyone, and not what meets the eye. It just happens to be the same as my reviewing handle, Carnivalesq. “Carnivalesque,” the proper word, is used to refer to “a literary mode that subverts and liberates the assumptions of the dominant atmosphere through humor and chaos” (Wikipedia). In the carnival, nothing is as it seems, and hierarchies are overturned. The world is turned upside down and high culture and art mingle with the profane. It’s only fitting that this Carnivale be at once a very high-end, very beautiful piece of swirled Latticino art glass and a butt plug. Calling something so beautiful a butt plug feels crass, and using it as such feels like a perversion of art. How very carnivalesque. So naturally I continued this theme by photographing the Carnivale at my semi-local art park. Art and nature? Meet glass and sex toys.

The Basics

The Carnivale arrived from Liberator in a white cardboard gift box, lined with pink tissue paper, atop which the Carnivale was nestled safely inside its foam-filled pouch with velvety mircrofiber exterior and satin interior. The pouch is very high quality with a really nice, high quality drawstring. And the foam? While I wouldn’t put the Carnivale in the pouch and then throw it from a plane or something, it’s going to do a really good job protecting your glass toy. It’s not the same foam used in their shapes and furniture, it’s memory foam, which conforms to the shape of the glass toy inside. Liberator is serious about this toy staying safe. Included also is a complete Liberator catalog full of gorgeous full color photos of people having fun on Liberator shapes and sex furniture, as well as images of their range of sex toys (including the Erotic Glassworks) lingerie, latex, etc. The whole experience of opening the Carnivale felt like opening a gift.

Details

Let’s talk about the art glass butt plug now, shall we? I chose the small because of the small size, 1.3″ width and 4″ length, and also for the color, a swirling green, yellow and red. Due to the hand crafted nature of the Carnivale, all of them are going to look different. Mine does not have the striking bright yellows of the promotional image, rather it has softer yellows, sea foam greens and royal blues along with deep reds, and I find the subdued colors remind me of half-faded memories of a bright, busy day. It’s full of motion, but it’s mellow. I like it, but I’m not going to say I don’t wish the yellows were bright and more pronounced.

I learned a lot about glass and the Latticino process of making swirling colored glass objects. It’s easier to copy from the email I received from Liberator, so check it out below:

All Liberator Erotic Glassworks are fashioned from heated borosilicate glass, the type of glass used for scientific and medical purposes. It is one of the hardest and strongest glass materials in the world with melting temperatures of about 2,500 degrees. To compare, lead crystal and soda lime glass, the material used to create bottles and drinking glasses, melts at around 1,200 degrees. To work with the glass, the artist uses a large torch that is fed with natural gas and medical liquid oxygen to create a flame that is 4,000 degrees hot. Since glass is a poor heat conductor, the artist can hold the glass at the ends and manipulate the glass by using the force of gravity and by using small carbon hand tools.

The color plugs au derriere are made by first creating color on clear glass, and then twisting the glass. Clear glass is then molten over the color glass and the shape is created by using the force of gravity and some carbon hand tools to shape the glass in any shape or form the artist desires. This is an old Venetian glass technique called “Latticino”.

After the sculpture has been completed, it is put in an annealing oven to get the stress out of the glass. Without this step, the glass would be brittle and prone to cracking. After this step the glass is so strong that it is hard to break it.

As it is made of glass, which is completely non-porous, it’s able to be sterilized. Wash with anti-bacterial soap, rinse with a light bleach solution, but don’t boil it or wash in the dishwasher. It’s graceful, it’s beautiful, and has a very old-world feel. So, well made? Yes, absolutely! Worth the high price tag? Yes. And here’s why. This is not a butt plug you’re buying to start exploring anal play (unless you’re making some serious bank). This isn’t a toy to buy if you’re trying to find the cheapest thing you can. This isn’t a butt plug you’re buying on a whim, to size up, to have a spare, or to test a new shape. This is a butt plug you buy to make a statement, and that statement says, ‘My love-making is art and I want sex toys that are art, too.’ You’re making a carnivalesque statement with this plug au derriere, you’re telling anyone who sees the plug displayed proudly that you like to mix a little of the profane in with your art and you’re not afraid to take the art off the walls and enjoy it. (And by “enjoy” I mean, “insert up your bottom.”)

Additionally, so long as you don’t pitch it out the window, this will last a lifetime and beyond. Consider that for this toys usable lifetime, if you buy it at age 25 and have it until you die at 95, it going to cost you just $3.25 per year. That’s less than one cent per day. Put it on your mantle, in your curio cabinet, or in your ass, and you’re going to love it.

Oh, yes, I nearly forgot. It feels divine when you actually use it. The small size was perhaps too small once it was inside, but going in was completely comfortable and utterly sensual with the cool, frictionless glass sliding against my skin and inside my body. The shape felt perfect inside, too, and is without a doubt the most comfortable hard-material butt plug I’ve ever used.

To conclude, this toy is not for everyone. It’s probably not ideally suited for beginners, even though it does come in small, just because it’s pricey, but if that doesn’t keep you from it then by all means. It’s not a cheap thrill (there are plenty of cheap thrills to be had elsewhere), but it is worth it. This is a toy meant for someone looking for a luxury toy, and hopefully someone who will display this piece somewhere prominently in their living space because, honestly, it’s too beautiful not to. This toy would make a great gift for a friend or lover, or for yourself. If you’d rather something for your other parts, instead of your derriere, head over to check out the other Erotic Glassworks at Liberator and choose something beautiful to use for all that dirty, wonderful sex you have with yourself or your partner, because when it comes down to it, any time you use art in bed you’re invoking the spirit of the carnivale.