THIS IS OUR GLASS STUDY GALLERY

Carole Allaire

John Allare

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This is the glass study gallery for our main site Ancient Glass Blog of The Allaire Collection. It is for people who are interested in going deeper into the study of the great collections of ancient and other antique glass found in museums.  This study gallery is thumbnail photographs taken of glass on public view both in the USA and abroad. Click on the list of collections below to go to these pages.

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**GLASS AT THE GETTY VILLA IN MALIBU

** THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, GLASS IN THE AMERICAN WING

** THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S ROMAN GLASS COLLECTIONS 2010

**THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S ISLAMIC GLASS COLLECTION 2011

** NEWARK MUSEUM’S ANCIENT GLASS COLLECTION

**GLASS at THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART

**GLASS at THE MUSEUM of ANTIQUITIES in ROUEN FRANCE

**GLASS AT MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS IN PARIS FRANCE

** FRENCH, VENETIAN AND FACON DE VENISE GLASS AT THE LOUVRE

**ROMAN GLASS AT THE LOUVRE

** GLASS AT ST GERMAIN, ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

** NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE

** THE MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY IN SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE

** GLASS AT MUSEE DE PICARDIE (AMIENS)

**THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

**CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS STUDY GALLERY

**THE ROMAN-GERMANIC MUSEUM IN COLOGNE

**1785-1858 A PIECE OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN HISTORY AS SEEN THROUGH GLASS

**JAMES PETER ALLAIRE

Below is a link to additional glass collections and exhibitions on this web site

4. MUSEUMS GLASS COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS

FOUR PERSIAN GLASS UNGUENTARIA

OF The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

Name:  FOUR PERSIAN GLASS UNGUENTARIA also called: ‘MOLAR FLASKS’

Date: of Islamic era, 9th.-10th. Century A.D.

From:Mesopotamia, Persia, possibly from Fustat, Egypt*

Size: left to right:

a. ↑ 5.51 cm | Ø body: 1.71 cm | Ø mouth : 1.11 cm | Ø base: 1.55 cm| w: 19 g |

b.↑ 6.29 cm | Ø body: 2.19 cm | Ø mouth : 1.32 cm | Ø base: 1.69 cm| w: 19 g |

c. ↑ 5.65 cm | Ø body: 2.09 cm | Ø mouth : 1.05 cm | Ø base: 1.85cm| w: 23 g |

d. ↑ 7.35 cm | Ø body: 2.29 cm | Ø mouth : 1.55 cm | Ø base: 1.90cm| w: 20 g |

 Technique: All four bottles cast as solid blocks of glass, drilled out, then cut with a grinding wheel and polished to form a container or unguentarium for precious perfume or scented oil.

Description: Four bottles of light green glass, that all have square, four sided bodies with hexagonal necks, three of them with four tapering or pyramid-shaped feet at each corner. Decorations on neck and bodies, each with different triangle- and square formed plastic elements, created with a grinding wheel. Glasses a, b and d have tapering necks from the rim towards the body. All four rims are plain.

Condition: In fairly good condition, but weathered, glasses  b and d bear heavy, colorfull iridescence; unguentarium c has lost its feet all together.

Remarks:  Two of the small bottles were carved from green glass, the other two possibly also; cut in a popular shape for cosmetic containers used in medieval Egypt, commonly in modern times referred to as ‘molar flasks’, for the vessels shape is thought to resemble a tooth. The four feet function as a pedestal to the flasks, that could have contained cosmetic unguent and perfume or possibly kohl for eyelining.

50. S. Auth remarks about the example in the Newark Museum (50.1814), that ‘from their shape, they were probably made as imitations of rock crystal’. The pale green colour of two of the four presented in the Augustinus collection, do resemble crystal indeed or at least chiselled translucent rockstone.

* C.J. Lamm describes in his Glass from Iran (1929/1930/1935), that the ‘molar flasks’ were produced in Egypt because of Egypts renown skills for cutting crystal rock. S. Auth and D. Whitehouse think this idea to be doubtfull, because most of the examples brought to light come from places spread throughout medieval Persia, several from a period of time earlier than the 9th. century A.D.

Provenance: From a private dutch collection; previously unpublished.

Reference: Kelsey Museum of Archeology, 1968.2.13; Corning Museum of Glass: Glass of the Sultans, gift of the Fustat Expedition no: 69.1.42.; Kerstner-Museum Hannover, 1982, no: 156; Fremersdorf, cat. of the Vatikan, no: 912f; La Baume, coll. Loeffler no: 2015.

Literature: C.J.Lamm, Glass from Iran, 1935; Carboni and Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans , 2001; Fustat Glass of the Early Islamic Period, 2001; Islamic Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass. Vol. 1, 2010.

IS THE GLASS VESSEL A BEAKER, BOTTLE, BOWL, FLASK, OR CUP ?

A universally accepted terminology of ancient glass shapes does not exist.  So wrote E. Marianne Stern in the book Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, Ernesto Wolf Collection 10 BCE-700 CE, publishers Hatje Cantz, 2001. The rest of this post is based on this book and Stern’s writing.

In the following post of terminology, Greek and Latin names are used sparingly. Where possible, an English name is preferred and the terminology is followed by a picture or pictures illustrating the term.

 

Amphora: A special form of jug with two handles.

MINIATURE AMPHORA of Hans van Rossum

 

Aryballos: A bath bottle for cleansing oil.

ARYBALLOS WITH CHAIN AND STOPPER of Hans van Rossum

Roman Aryballos 68R 1st-2nd C Allaire collection

 

Askos: A vessel imitating the shape of a wine-skin.

ROMAN ASKOS of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

 

Beaker: An open-shaped vessel that is taller than it is wide.  Usually, but not always a drinking vessel.

109 E Ridged Beaker 15th C Allaire collection

MYTHOLOGICAL ROMAN BEAKER of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

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Bottle: A sizable vessel with a neck, with or without handles.  The mouth is usually made so it can be closed tightly.  The body can be barrel-shaped, cylindrical, spherical, square, or prismatic.  Usually for storage and transport; sometimes for serving liquids at the table.  Special shapes are, Frontinus bottle, Lenticular bottle, Spouted bottle. Small bottles are called unguentaria.

12A Dark amber swirl bottle 1800-1820 of Allaire Collection

SMALL ONE HANDLED BARREL JUG of The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

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Bowl: An open-shaped vessel that is wider than it is tall. Usually for serving or presenting food, sometimes for drinking; in the East also for lighting.  Special shapes include Zarte Rippenschale.

ROMAN RIBBED BOWL of Joop van der Groen

Roman green bowl From the collection of: Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

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Cone: An open conical vessel ending in a point. Usually used in the West for drinking and in the East for lighting.

Nico F. Bijnsdorp collection Merovingian cone beaker Late 5th – early 6th century

The Allaire Collection 60E Merovingian cone cone shaped beaker Late 5th to first half of 6th century

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Cup: An open-shaped vessel that is about as tall as it is wide. Usually for drinking, but sometimes lidded and used as a jar.  Special shapes include goblet, Hofheium cup, modiolus.

Merovingian Palm Cup fromThe Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

INDENTED CUP of Hans van Rossum

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Dish: A flat or shallow bowl.  Usually for serving or presenting food.

Venetian Plate or Dish of David Giles

ROMAN GLASS SHALLOW PEDESTAL DISH of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

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Flask:  A vessel with a neck but without handles. The mouth is usually not made for closing.  The body is usually bulbous. Usually tableware, for serving liquids.

Pattern-Blown Flask late Roman 5th C of Hans van Rossum

36A American Pattern-molded flask 1800-1835 of Allaire collection

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Goblet: A stemmed, footed cup.  Usually used for drinking.  In Eastern Mediterranean commonly used as an oil lamp with a floating wick.

FAÇON DE VENISE WINEGLASS MADE FROM CRISTALLO from: Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

52e Late Roman glass goblet 5-7th C Allaire collection

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Jar: Two types of jars 1 and 2.

(1) A vessel with a wide rim but without neck.  The body can be bulbous or square. Usually for storage of foods. Special shapes include: urn.

DECORATED PYXIS OR JAR 4th – 5th century AD | Eastern Mediterranean of Hans van Rossum

Facon de Venise Covered Jar with Animal Head Medallions 1600 C. Allaire collection

Roman Honey-Colored Trailed Jar 37R Allaire collection

WHEEL-ABRADED ROMAN GLASS JAR OF Nico F. Bijnsdorp

INDENTED JAR WITH FLARING RIM of The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

LARGE JAR OR URN of Joop van der Groen

(2) The commonest form of the Eastern Mediterranean jar has a funnel neck which is actually a tall, flaring mouth.  The body is usually bulbous, less frequently cylindrical: it can have functional handles, multiple decorative handles or a pattern trailing attached to the rim.  These jars were probably tableware for serving foods.

 

This is an except to the rule. Roman Jar with Three Handles and Zig-Zag Decoration from The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

Allaire Collection 40R Roman Jar with Zig Zag Rim

ROMAN GLASS JAR WITH ZIG-ZAG DECORATION of the The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

Jar with zig-zag rim The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

 

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Jug: An elaborate flask usually with handle. The mouth can be round, trefoil or spouted. Usually for serving wine or other liquids at the table. Special shapes include: amphora see top of this page.

Side B

56R Footed Jug with Thumb Rest Allaire collection

Globular Transparent Jug of The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

LARGE ROMAN GLASS JUG WITH THUMB-REST 3-4th C Nico F. Bijnsdorp

Roman Glass Jug with Long Neck of Hans van Rossum

PEAR-SHAPED JUG OR LAGOENA of Hans van Rossum

Roman Jug with Handle of Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

ROMAN GLASS JUG WITH LOOP HANDLE, RIBBED NECK AND OVOID BODY The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

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Kohl tube: A tubular container for kohl, a black eye paint used widely in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine.

ROD-FORMED KOHL TUBE WITH STOPPER of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

LATE ROMAN GLASS KOHL (COSMETIC) TUBE of Hans van Rossum

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Lenticular bottle: A bottle with flattened section.

LENTOID BOTTLE of Hans van Rossum

Lentoid core glass of David Giles

50R Pilgrim flask 3-4th Century Allaire Collection

LENTOID ARYBALLOS of Hans van Rossum

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Modiolus: A one-handled cup.

Modiolus From The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

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Sprinkler:  Any vessel with an internal diaphragm at the base of the neck

SPRINKLER WITH FINS of Joop van der Groen

01R Green two handled sprinkler 3-4th C Allaire collection

128 POMEGRANATE-SHAPED SPRINKLER from the collection of Hans van Rossum

47R Sprinkler Flask with fins and toes 3-4th Century Allaire collection

POMEGRANATE SPRINKLER The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

3H Roman Glass Guttrolf Sprinkler Bottle of Hans van Rossum

 

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Urn: A burial jar for cremation ashes which may be lidded. The body is usually bulbous.  Many burial urns have two heavy coil handles, often M-shaped.

CINERARY URN of Nico F. Bijnsdorp

ROMAN GREEN GLASS CINERARY URN WITH LID of David Giles

Cinerary urn with lid, from the Windmill Collection

Cinerary urn without lid, from the Windmill Collection

ENGLISH GLASS BOTTLE WITH RASPBERRY PRUNTS

(99E) English Glass Bottle with Raspberry Prunt H: 11.2 cm, D: 1690

 

This is a colorless gourd-shape flask decorated with gadrooning on the bottom and a raspberry prunt centered on each side. A similar glass vessel is in the Batchelor collection at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and was on display from December 2018 to March 3, 2019.

 

 

 

ROMAN WHEEL-CUT GLASS FLASK

(10R) Wheel-Cut Bottle of Allaire Collection

Date: First Century Size: H: 12.5 cm

Description: A large flask in a bluish pale color has a globular body with a flattened base.  The straight cylindrical neck ends with a small outward-folded collar rim. The body is decorated with five wheel-cut bands of alternating widths.  A thin layer of iridescence is scattered over the piece. A tiny strain crack appears inside the neck, otherwise it is intact.  The bottle is from Italy.

Ref: Scatozza Horicht 1986, pp. 56-57, nos. 125-126, from Herculaneum, not later than A.D 79, Hayes 1975, p. 58, no. 144 published a similar bottle of unknown provenance and noted a parallel from a Neronian or Vespasianic grave at Histria Alexandrescu 1966, p. 219, pl. 101. Constable-Maxwell Collection 1979, p. 77, no. 125 may belong to this group, although it was catalogued with a later date.

Comment: The flask belongs to a group of globular bottles with cylindrical necks and plain or collar like rims, which are decorated with parallel and / or intersection circles or combinations of circles and other motifs. The size varies. The bottles may be divided into at least three subgroups.  Vessels in the first subgroup have collar like rims and decorated on the wall with continuous broad, horizontal wheel-cut bands; they were present in Italy in the first century A.D. example Allaire Collection 10R above.

The second subgroup also consists of bottles with collar like rims, but in this case the horizontal groves are accompanied by upright circles and inclined great circles. The example below of the second subgroup is in Corning Museum of Glass #433. Formerly in the Smith Collection # 1404.  Dated 3^rd to 4^th century and may have been made in the eastern Mediterranean. Reference for this comment is from Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass Volume One page 253 #433

#433 Bottle The Corning Museum of Glass 3-4th C.

The third and largest subgroup come from sites in the Rhineland, and it consists of bottles with plain rims. The decoration is more varied than in either of the other subgroups. It includes animals and flower-like motifs along with shorter necks and plain rims. The walls are decorated with continuous horizontal grooves intersecting with great circles, and on the bottom with a quadruped. Below is an example of this type

Wheel cut bottle in The J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty Villa) 3-4th C.

 

 

 

ROMAN GLASS BEAKER FROM THE RHINELAND

 

 ROMAN GLASS BEAKER of  The Augustinus Collection of Ancient Glass

Date: 4-6th C Size: ↑ 9.4 cm | Ø Mouth : 10.3 cm | Ø Base: 5.3cm | Weight: 143 g |

A Kisa: form 380, Gallo-Roman era

Technique: Probably blown into a mold, rim knocked off and slightly polished, wheel engraved line

Description: Translucent white to yellow-green, rather thin, glass, weathered and with golden irisation on the inside and outside, sand encrusted; two wheel-engraved lines, one at 0.41 cm from the mouth, second one at 3.44 cm from below; bottom indented to create a standing ring; with traces of a possible pontil mark.

Condition: Delivered in complete and uncleaned condition, with no cracks, but sand encrusted and with a very fine layer of a golden irisation allover.

Remarks: A close parallel is a beaker from the collection of Louis Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899) inventory number 575*, height 8 cm, with a similar shape and mouth, also translucent in color and with wheel-engraved lines.

Fremersdorf presents in Die Farblose Glaeser der Fruehzeit in Koeln (1957) a beaker with a height of 12,5 cm and a diameter at the mouth of 11,8 cm, wheel cut lines and a form of shape of the cup ending almost straight at the mouth, as is the case with the example in the Augustinus collection.

Susan H. Auth states in Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum about a colorless – blue green cup, (50.1873) of the 3rd. century and found in Cologne: ‘probably the simplest shape of drinking vessel with flattened base and knocked off rim, that could have been quickly produced by Roman glass shops’. However she does not mention the possibility of blowing the beakers into a mold. Isings describes in Roman Glass from dated finds (1957) similar cups from the third century, but with slightly outsplayed rim, as does the french writer Sennequier in Verreries Antiques, where profile drawings of the cups and beakers of the Gallo-Roman era do variate at the mouth from widely outsplayed to almost straight.

Reference: *Collection of L.G. Bellon, sale-catalogue 2009, no 205.

Kisa, slight variation in form to no: 380; Fremersdorf, 1957, vol. XIX, p. 7, inv. No 6004; Isings variation to form: 29, 3rd. c. A.D.;  Auth, 1976, Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum nr. 50.1873  Goethert-Polaschek, 1977, 72, nr 302, Taf. 42; Sennequier, Verreries Antiques, no 298, p 110-112.

Provenance: From a private dutch collection, previously unpublished;

FAÇON DE VENISE TUSCAN WINE GLASS

(122E) Allaire Collection Tuscan Wine Glass

Description:The glass has a bucket bowl with rounded base with gadrooning (messa stampaura) of twelve ribs.  Around the bowl a colorless thread is wound seven times. The hollow stem consists of two hollow knops with a straight part in between called a spool stem.  Conical foot with folded rim.

Material: Cristallo or vitrum blanchum, Height: 12.6 cm, Diameter of bowl 7.0 cm, Diameter of foot 7.1 cm,

Date: End of the Sixteenth Century, Origin: Tuscany/Venice

Parallels: Fragili Trasparenze: Vetri Antichi in Toscana, Anna Laghi 1990, P. 4, 51 (plain bowl), Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen glass collection,  Example 20 seen below.

Example 20

COLORS OF ROMAN GLASS VESSELS

Glassmakers during the Roman period had an impressive array of colors to use to make their glass vessels. Describing these colors can be difficult.  Colors of glass can appear as different shades depending on the surrounding light, shape, thickness, chemical composition and opacity of the glass vessel.  The glass made in Roman times had naturally occurring metal ions giving the vessel a greenish, straw or brownish color depending on the source of the raw materials.  However, the glassmakers knew how to decolorize the glass or add other metal oxide to make all of the colors found in Roman vessels.  As styles and taste changed over the centuries during the Roman Empire so did the general color of their glass.  These color changes give some indication of when these glasses were made and where. These patterns are vague with many exceptions.  Colors used to make Roman glass are Brown, Aqua (bluish-green), Amber, Aubergene, Blue, Green, Yellow, Straw, Olive green, Red, Black, White and Colorless.  Also, with each color the modifier such as pale or dark is used to describe shade of color.

 

The following vessels are arranged by centuries

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First Century

17R Roman Blue Bottle 1st Century Allaire collection

21R Roman Amber Bottle 1st Century 11.5 cm Allaire Collection

41R Small dark green Roman glass bottle 1st Century Allaire Collection

54R Roman marbled blue bottle 1st Century 5.6 cm Allaire Collection

63R Roman bowl with vertical rim 1st Century (https://wp.me/pqEUT-3ma active link)

Sidonian Jug 1st C The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

Roman juglet from Sidon 1st Century Unknown Collection

43R Roman Sidonian Bottle with Scoll Design 1st Century Allaire Collection

Sidonian Jug 1st C Hans van Rossum

Blue Roman Glass Unguentarum Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen collection

Roman juglet with cobalt blue handle The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

Roman Glass Acetabulum The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

Splash amohoriskos 1st c Nico F. Bijnsdorp

ROMAN THIN-WALLED ‘SPLASHEDGLASS’ ARYBALLOS Hans van Rossum collection

Roman splashed glass aryballos 1st C Nico F. Bijnsdorp

8H ROMAN BLUE RIBBED BOWL Hans van Rossum collection

AMBER RIBBED BOWL (zarte Rippenschale) 1st c Hans van Rossum

Glass Juglet 1st centtury CE H. 9.5 cm, Museum in Tel Aviv,

OPAQUE BLUE ROMAN GLASS BUD VASE 1st C David Giles

OPAQUE BLUE ROMAN GLASS JUG Nico F. Bijnsdorp collection 1st C

AJAX AMPHORISKOS 1st C Nico F. Bijnsdorp

 

First to Second Century

70R ROMAN GLASS BEAKER, H: 10.2 cm, Rim D: 8.5 cm, Date: 1st – early 2nd century, Possibly Western Allaire Collection

73R Small Strap Handled Roman Jug 1-2nd C Allaire Collection

Second to Third Century

15R Roman spool-shaped unguentarium 2-3rd Century 7.7 cm Allaire Collection

ROMAN FREE BLOWN GLASS FLASK 2-3rd C Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

Grape flask Date: 3rd century AD Size: H = 14.0 cm Dia = 6.3 cm The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

Third to Fourth Century

39R Egyptian glass bowl 4th Century (https://wp.me/pqEUT-3fo active link)

44R Roman aubergine coil pitcher 4th Century Allaire Collection

45R Green Roman trailed Jar 3-4th Century Allaire Collection

79R Pale Aubergine sprinkler 3-4th C Allaire Collection

PEAR-SHAPED JUG OR LAGOENA 4th C Hans van Rossum

Green Jug 4th C Hans van Rossum

SMALL MANGANESE JUG 3-4th C The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

R33 Hexagonal Bottle D: Second to Third Century H: 9 cm Allaire Collection

50R Pilgrim flask 3-4th Century Allaire Collection

57R Roman cup or lamp with blue blobs 4th Century Allaire Collection

58R Roman coil neck pitcher 4th Century

Pear Shaped Roman Jug 4th C Hans van Rossum

LARGE ROMAN GLASS JUG WITH THUMB-REST 3-4th C Nico F. Bijnsdorp

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Fourth to Fifth Century Late Roman

ROMAN DOUBLE-BODIED BALSAMARIUM 4-5th C Nico F. Bijnsdorp

66R Egyptian Glass Bowl from Karanis 4th century

EGYPT DEEP BOWL 4-5th C The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

56R Late Roman jug with ribbed handle and tall thumb rest 4th-5th C

MEROVINGIAN BEAKER WITH FESTOONS

124E Allaire Collection Merovingian beaker

 

Description: Deep bluish-green glass beaker was shaped by blowing into  an open mold.  The decoration features self-trails applied and tooled into a festoon pattern, a common design used on glass vessels of the Migration Period.  At the rim a slight flare is present with a cracked-off edge. Intact, some weathering.

Date: 5th C. AD

Size: H 9.1 cm, D 9.5 cm

Published: Christie’s, June 8th 2012 Lot#143

Ref: Bomford Collection #127, Christie’s Dec. 5th, 2012 Lot# 185, Glass 500BC to AD1900, Hans Cohn Collection #111, Memoires de Verre #67, and #68

VENETIAN WINE GOBLET

32E Allaire Collection

 

Cristallo wine glass has a bell-shaped bowl decorated with gadrooning and a thin clear glass thread circling the center.  The tall narrow stem rests on a wide circular foot.

H: 15.3 cm

First half of 17th Century

Ref: Lameris, 1991 #82