Description:
English lead glass wine glass with a plain ogee bowl and an enamel twist stem in yellow and white glass. By the early eighteenth century, the unique optical effects of lead glass were well known by English glassmakers. The material was cold gray in color, heavy in weight, and brilliant when cut. These characteristics made glass especially desirable for lighting devices. When illuminated, transparent candlesticks reflect and refract available light in the room. Opague and color-twist wine glasses were introduced in the 1750's, and remained fashionable in England until outmoded by faceted stems in the 1780's. To create this decorative effect, the glassmaker embedded canes of colored glass into a gather of colorless glass; then the gather was pulled and twisted. Stems of varying lengths could be cut and appled to bowls. Colored twist stems, or "shanks" as they were known in the period, are extremely rare. This glass had been in the collection Sir Hugh Dawson. According to Dwight Lanmon, glass scholar, in May 1977, this twist combination of colors in a wineglass, c. 1770, is extremely rare. The canary-yellow thread is the rarest of all color twist types.
Label Text:
Exhibited in "Rococo: Celebrating 18th-Century Design and Decoration" (2018-2019): By the early 18th century, the unique optical effects of lead glass became fully utilized by English glassmakers. The innovative material possessed a cold gray color, was heavy in weight, and refracted light to create sparkle. These three English lead glass objects are additionally decorated with twisted, colored glass stems. Their spiraling, lightweight design reflects the fashionable Rococo style that dominated English decorative arts in the middle of the 18th century.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+68.156 |
