Ancient Glass Blog of The Allaire Collection

AVENTURINE GLASS

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 29, 2020

It is with great pleasure that we dedicate these three posts to our daughter-in-law Tori Randall. Due to her interest and vast knowledge of rocks and minerals she has been our inspiration for writing these posts.

Aventurine Glass

Ancient Agate Patterned Glass (active link)

Ancient Glass That imitates Rock Crystal (active link)

Aventurine Clutha Glass Vase 130E

of

the Allaire Collection

Date: 1890           Height: 10 cm

Description: This mainly greenish concaved Clutha glass vase has embedded air bubbles, streaks of white and speckles of brown aventurine. Its type was patented in the 1890s by James Couper and Sons, Glasgow.  It may have been designed by Christopher Dresser or George Walton. Christopher Dresser in the 1880’s created a new “art glass” series for the manufacturer James Couper & Sons, located in Glasgow. Sold under the trade name “Clutha,” the ancient name of Glasgow’s river Clyde., Clutha was Dresser’s only experiment in glass design.

Remarks: Aventurine glass imitates the mineral by the same name. The glass is translucent with sparkling inclusions of gold, copper, or chromic oxide, first made in Venice in the 15th century.  In the Clutha vase example the aventurine glass is the golden brown streak throughout it.  In different light it is more pronounced.  The mineral Aventurine is a form of quartz (SiO₂), characterised by its translucency and the presence of platy mineral (minerals which develop a crystal form consisting of thin, leaf-like layers) inclusions that give a shimmering or glistening effect termed aventurescence.

 

 

Aventurine Gourd Vase, 2017.3.5. Corning Museum of Glass. Maker: Salviati & Company about 1880

 

Aventurine Gourd Vase. Copper colored aventurine glass, colorless glass with gold colored inclusions; optic-molded, blown, applied. Gourd shaped ribbed vase made from sparkling, copper colored aventurine glass. Wide spherical mouth, tapering to narrow neck, and widening to a drop-shaped base. The parison was dipped in a ridged optic mold, with slight twisting of the ridges visible around the mouth. Applied colorless glass with gold colored inclusions around the narrowest part of the neck, applied and pinched handles, and plain colorless applied thread base. The description is from the Corning Museum of Glass.

 

This is a active link video on how aventurine glass fragments can be used to make the above chalcedony glass cup.  https://www.cmog.org/video/chalcedony-glass from the Corning Museum of Glass.

 

COLLECTORS EXAMPLES OF RIBBED BOWLS

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 27, 2020

Glass bowls with ribbing have been made since Hellenistic times from the 1st century BC into the first few decades of the 1st century AD.  Reportedly used as drinking vessels they apparently had wide spread use and popularity.  The examples preserved from this period are quite varied in size, color and even process of manufacture.  The earlier bowls were probably not cast,  but may have been formed from thick round discs. The ribs were formed hot with a pincer tool and then the disc was slumped into a bowl shape. The process is described in this link Ribbed Bowls and their Manufacture by Mark Taylor and David Hill.  Later ribbed bowls were formed on a blowpipe and ribs were formed with a pincer tool. The examples here show a wide variety of glass ribbed bowls from antiquity.

COLLECTORS EXAMPLES OF RIBBED BOWLS

 

Hans van Rossum

 

RIBBED BOWL example one

RIBBED BOWL

RIBBED BOWL example two

ROMAN RIBBED BOWL

 

 

The Windmill Collection of Roman Glass

 

TRANSLUCENT HIGH RIBBED BOWL

 

Translucent high ribbed bowl

 

TRANSLUCENT HIGH RIBBED BOWL(a variant on a ribbed bowl)

 

 

 –

 

Nico F. Bijnsdorp

HELLENISTIC RIBBED BOWL

RHODIAN CAST MONOCHROME BOWL (a variant on a ribbed bowl)

 

 –

David Giles

HELLENISTIC CAST, SLUMPED, CUT GLASS BOWL(a variant on a ribbed bowl)
 

 

 –

Joop van der Groen

ROMAN RIBBED GLASS BOWL

ROMAN RIBBED BOWL of Joop van der Groen

 

The Allaire Collection of Roman Glass

HELLENISTIC OR ROMAN RIBBED BOWL

MONOCHROME RIBBED GLASS BOWL

 

 

To see additional ribbed bowl on this site:  HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN GLASS RIBBED BOWLS

We invite you to comment on this post with remarks or questions about the glass.  Also, let us know if you are a glass collector or scholar and your e-mail so we can get back to you.  Please use this link, “leave a comment”.

 

A DAY OF GIVING THANKS FOR OUR MANY BLESSINGS

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 26, 2020

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada, the United States, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.

It is a day to celebrate and give thanks for health, home, family, friends and good food.

GLASS GOBLETS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 22, 2020

GOBLETS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Goblet from Germany first half of the 16th century in the Collection of Karl Amendt Krefeld

The Middle Ages is a period of European history between the decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. and the dawn of the Renaissance in the 15th century Italy.  The Western Roman Empire ended more or less at the end of the 5th century.  The Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, ended in 1453 when the Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople and formed an Islamic state at the eastern borders of Europe.

During the 1,000 years of the Middle Ages also referred to as the Dark Ages, Europe underwent profound changes.  The Middle Ages can be divided into three periods: The Early Middle Ages from the 5th to the 8th century some scholars refer to this as the Migration Period(active link).  The Central Middle Ages starting with the 8th to the 11th and the Late Middle Ages 12th to 14th centuries.

Glass from the Early and Central Middle Ages is mostly a story of drinking vessels, bowls, cups, beakers, drinking horns, and bottles. In the later period drinking vessels start to decline in importance with the rise of stained glass used for the windows of cathedrals.  Goblets of the Late Middle Ages where not as refined as those of the Venetian and Façon de Venise period but they had a strong masculine beauty. Most of the glass vessels produced at this time came from northern Germany, the Low Countries, and central Europe and were made of transparent green Waldglas or forest glass.  The color came from the presence of impurities (iron oxide) in the raw materials.  This type of glass particularly the Berkemeyer (active link) and Krautstrunk(active link) evolved in the 17th century into the Roemer(active link).

This post is a pictorial of goblets from when they first appeared in the 11th to the 15th century to the beginning of the  Renaissance. 

Sketch of rare glass goblets from the 13th and 14th century interpreted from fragments

Hedwig Beaker Late 12th C. in the collection of The Corning Museum of Glass

Hedwig Beakers

Hedwig beakers form a small but famous group of vessels. They share several characteristics: the same form (beakers with a straight, tapering side), the same finishing techniques (decorated by cutting), and the same shallow faceting of the upper wall in order to display the ornament in relief. The beakers range in height from 8.3 to 14.6 centimeters. All are colorless or nearly colorless. The repertoire of motifs is varied: lions, eagles, griffins, and the tree of life are recurrent elements, but we also find a chalice, a crescent moon and stars, palmettos, and abstract or geometric motifs. It appears these objects were designed to be fitted with gold mounts to be used as goblets. Below are beakers as they appear in their gold mounts and one with a lid.  Additional information about the Hedwig Beaker can be found at Corning Museum of Glass(active link)

Below are Two Hedwig beakers shown in their gold mounts

DUTCH JENEVER GLASS

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 19, 2020

Dutch Jenever Glass of Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen

Dutch Jenever Glass

Dutch Jenever Glass

Origin: the Netherlands around 1750.

Dimensions: H 17,0 cm.; ø cuppa 7,1 cm.; ø foot 7,4 cm.; weight 130,1 gram.

  Description: This elegant jenever glass is quite rare regarding shape, construction and decoration. Jenever, in the old days written as genever, is the typical strong alcoholic Dutch drink not being the same as gin. The trumpet like cup and stem are made from one take of glass. The MSAT (Multiple Spiral Air Twist) in the stem starts at the bottom of the cup and continues almost to the foot of the glass being the second part of the construction of this glass.  The unique feature to this glass is the incorporation of two graduated bulbous knops.  The foot is slightly conical and the pontil is quite present in sight and feeling. The stem is made out of solid glass.

Material: soda glass.

Parallels: Up to now very few parallels to this glass have been found which strengthens the statement of Frides Laméris when we bought this glass saying that he had rarely seen glasses with this architecture. The closest parallel regarding the shape of the stem is in Bickerton, English Drinking glasses 1675 – 1825 pg. 15 top row second glass from the left. However, the shape of the cuppa of that glass is different from our glass. An engraved parallel was auctioned at Bonhams 17-12-2008, The James Hall Collection, Sale number 16672 lot nr. 120. A rather good parallel was found with O.N. Wilkinson, Manufacture, Style, Uses, pict. 82, having a folded foot and two so called swelling knops iso. the more bulbous knops and the not folded foot of our glass.

Provenance: With Frides Laméris, Amsterdam, In owners collection since 2001

ROMAN GLASS DOUBLE BALSAMARIUM

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 16, 2020

DOUBLE BALSAMARIUM of Hans van Rossum

Date: Late 4th century | Syro-Palestinian region Size: ↑10.5 cm | ø 4.5 cm (bottom) | Weight 78 g

Technique: Free blown, thread and handles applied; tooled

Classification: Stern 2001: type I, Class C-2a | Dussart 1998: BXIII.2211 nr. 21 | Barag 1970 type XII 2

Condition: Intact, colorful and silvery iridescence

Description: Translucent green glass, rim folded inward; two tubular phials, bulging slightly at bottom. Two angular side-handles, applied on top of tubes and attached to edge of rim. Flattened base, rest of pontil.

Remarks I: Kohl tubes with two compartments were made by squeezing an elongated bubble in such a way that the sides touched lengthwise. A shallow channel on one side of the finished vessel (the ‘’back’’) corresponds to a deep cleavage on the other side (the front). Apparently, ancient glass workers pressed both sides simultaneously. For the purpose of these kohl tubes: see information p. 142.          

Remarks II: Identical examples were found at Jalame workshop, located at Khirbat el-Ni’ana, 40 km northwest of Jerusalem. Provenance Acquired 11 February 2017, private collection Mr. & Mrs. Claus, the Netherlands (1980-2017), collection no. AR 16 Jacques Schulman B.V. Amsterdam (NL) Fixed Price-List no 218, October 1981 art. 88, bought by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on 8 March 1982.

Reference: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of Mediterranean Antiquities, Vol. 1, The Ancient Ancient Glass, B. Caron & E.P. Zoïtopoúlou 2008 no. 137 Vom Luxusobjekt zum Gebrauchsgefäβ, Vorrömische und römische Gläser, M. Honroth 2007 no. 110 Ancient  Glass  in  the  Israel  Museum,  The  Eliahu Dobkin Collection and  Other Gifts, Y. Israeli 2003 no. 288 Roman and Pre-Roman Glass in the Royal Ontario Museum, J. W. Hayes 1975 no. 359 Ancient Glass at the Newark Museum, S.H. Auth 1976 no. 482, inv. no. 50.1550  

THE ORIGIN OF GLASS STEMWARE

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 13, 2020

The Origin of  Stemware

The story starts with an Ancient Greek Kantharos ( or Cantharus) and Kylix which is a type of Greek cup used for drinking.  Although almost all surviving examples are Greek pottery, the shape probably originated in metalwork.  In the Kantharos iconic form, it is characterized by a deep bowl, tall pedestal foot, and pair of high-swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot. The Kylix has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot and usually two horizontal handles disposed

 

Another candidate for the origin of stemware is this ceramic goblet from Navdatoli, Malwa, 1300 BCE; Malwa culture in Central India.

A ceramic goblet from Navdatoli, Malwa, Central India 1300 B.C.E.

 

The discovery of how to make glass was probably in Eastern Mesopotamia and then passed on to Egypt.  Shortly after this glass was used to make beads, amulets, core form containers and then cast bowls and cups for drinking.  The Greeks later started to make the cast Kantharos or Kylix forms in glass during the Hellenistic period from (330 to 50 B.C.) at the beginning of the Roman Period.  The Kantharos form is different from the so-called Skyphos type that normally has a less oval body and a lower or no foot.  The Skyphos form was also used to make glass objects using free blown techniques in the first and later centuries.

However, it was not until the glass blowing technique was developed in the first century and widely used that the true stemware glass goblet appeared. This happened in the late third to the fifth century during the Roman and the Migration periods.

In the 3rd C. of the Roman Period a true glass stemware became a staple form in all of the future centuries. Then in the Middle Ages this oddity appeared which points to the beautiful and ornate Venetian and Façon de Venise wine glasses of the 15th to the end of the 16th century.

13th to 14th century Goblet Collection of Karl Amendt, Krefeld

Below is an active link on the naming of stems on stemware from Venetian and Façon de Venise period.

8. NAMING: STEM FORMATIONS A TO Z ON VENETIAN AND FAÇON DE VENISE WINE GLASSES

GLASS OF LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 10, 2020

SUMMARY OF GLASS HISTORY DURING MIDDLE AGES IN WESTERN EUROPE

During the 1,000 years of the Middle Ages also referred to as the Dark Ages, Europe underwent profound changes. David Whitehouse in Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasant the book for the 2010 exhibition at The Corning Museum of Glass divides this period of history into three sections.  The Early Middle Ages from the fifth to the eighth century, the Central Middle Ages starting with the eighth to the eleventh and the Late Middle Ages 12th to 14th centuries. Some scholars refer to Early Middle Ages also as the Migration Period.

Glass from the Early and Central Middle Ages is mostly a story of drinking vessels, bowls, cups, beakers, drinking horns, and bottles.  In the later period drinking vessels start to decline in importance with the rise of stained glass used for the windows of cathedrals. The oldest-known fragments of medieval pictorial stained glass appear to date from the 10th century. The earliest intact figures are the five prophet windows at Augsburg Germany, dating from the late 11th century. At Canterbury and Chartres Cathedrals, a number of panels of the 12th century have survived. Most of the magnificent stained glass of France is in the famous windows of Chartres Cathedral, date from the 13th century.  So important and beautiful are stained glass windows in the Middle Ages that generally, that is all you hear about on the subject of Medieval glass.  Most of the glass vessels produced in the later Middle Ages in northern Germany, the Low Countries, and central Europe were made of transparent green Waldglas or foresglass.  The color came from the presence of impurities (iron oxide) in the raw materials.  This type of glass particularly the Berkemeyer and Krautstrunk evolved in the 17th century into the Roemer.

Parts of this article come from the book written by David Whitehouse, Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasant,2010 and an article in Glashistorisch Tijdschrift nr.138. By Theo Zandbergen

GLASS FROM THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

IN THE ALLAIRE COLLECTION

The title above the pictures is an active link to additional information on the glass objects

 

13E KRAUTSRUNK BEAKER

13E Krautstrunk C. 1490-1500 H 9.5 cm

13E Krautstrunk C. 1490-1500 H 9.5 cm

23E MEDIEVAL MAIGELEIN

23E Maigeline C. 1470-1520

23E Maigeline C. 1470-1520

49E MEDIEVAL MAIGELEIN

49E Maigelin C. 1470-1520

49E Maigelin C. 1470-1520

74E WARZENBEACHER (wart beaker)

74E Warzenbecher 17th Century

74E Warzenbecher 17th Century

86E MEDIEVAL BEAKER WITH STEM FOOT

86E Medieval Wald Glass Beaker C. 1500-1550

86E Medieval Wald Glass Beaker C. 1500-1550

105E KEULENGLAS BEAKER

105E Keulenglas Beaker 17th Century

105E Keulenglas Beaker 17th Century

109E RIDGED BEAKER WITH DISTINCT FOOT

109E Medieval Beaker 15th Century

109E Medieval Beaker 15th Century

110E TRAILED BEAKER FROM THE NETHERLANDS

110E Trailed Beaker from the Netherlands 17th Century

110E Trailed Beaker from the Netherlands 17th Century

120E SINGLE KUTTROLF FROM THE MIDDLE AGES

120E Single Kuttrolf120E Single Kuttrolf 16th Century

VENETIAN & FAÇON de VENISE VENICE GLASSES OF THE RENAISSANCE

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 7, 2020

VENETIAN & FAÇON de VENISE VENICE GLASS

The Renaissance Period was the cultural rebirth that occurred in Europe from roughly the fourteenth through the middle of the seventeenth centuries, based on the rediscovery of the literature of Greece and Rome. … Renaissance means “rebirth” or “reawakening.”  The renaissance of glassmaking in Europe mainly took place Venice.

The Roman glassmaking industry in Europe slowly die out from the fourth century and became glass of the Migration Period and Middle Ages (6th-14th C).  Venice became the dominant glass manufacturing center from the 15th to the end of the 16th century. Glass objects in the Venetian style are of the finest quality light weight glass with attributes like delicacy, elaborateness, colorfulness (enamel decoration) created by highly skilled glassworkers. Byzantine craftsmen and glassworkers played an important role in the development of Venetian glass when they migrated from Constantinople to Venice in 1204 and again in 1453. Towards the end of the 13th century, the center of the Venetian glass industry was moved to Murano. By the 16th century, Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the color and transparency of their glass, and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques. Murano artisans used specialized tools in the making of their glass. Some of these tools include borselle (tongs or jacks used to form the hot glass), soffietta (known as a puffer and used to inflate a vessel after it has been transferred to the punty), pontello or punty (an iron rod to which the craftsman attaches the glass after blowing to add final touches), scagno (the glass-master’s work bench) and tagianti (large glass-cutting clippers). Near the end of the 16th century Venice started to lose control over the luxury glass market. By the 17th century Façon de Venise (in the style of Venetian glass) was adopted in many countries of Europe and England. It should be noted that at approximately the same time period as the Venetians, highly skilled glassworkers were also busy in Altare. It is quite difficult to make a distinction between glass objects made in Venice or Altare. It is sometimes stated that the spreading of the art of making sophisticated glass over Europe mainly came from trained glassworkers from Altare as there was a ban on the free movement of glassworkers from Venice. What we nowadays call Façon de Venise glass made in Spain, France, and the Netherlands can be seen as the combined contributions of glassworkers from Altare and Venice. The renaissance of glassmaking in Britain can also be attributed to glassworkers from Italy. It remains quite difficult and tricky declaring glasses of Venetian/Altarian origin or Façon de Venise. For some it is quite clear and others can fall either way. Verre de Fougère is a sub-type of Façon de Venise glass from France and refers to glass made using fern-ash as a flux. The ash can give a specific “smoky”, brownish, ginger or sandy coloring to the glass. Co-Author Theo Zandbergen

For additional information see these links below posted on this site.

GLASS OF THE MIDDLE AGES,GLASS OF THE BYZANTINE PERIOD & EARLY MIDDLE AGES,MIGRATION PERIOD (6TH-9TH C) MEROVINGIAN,-BYZANTINE AND ISLAMIC GLASS,Elisabeth & Theo Zandbergen SEE SECOND PART OF THIS PAGE,MEDIEVAL GLASS GALLERY 307 AT THE MET,THE BRITISH MUSEUM: POST ROMAN AND MEROVINGIAN GLASS 5TH – 7TH C,– FRENCH, VENETIAN AND FACON DE VENISE GLASS AT THE LOUVRE,NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE,Naming: Stem Formations From A to Z on Venetian and Façon de Venise Wine Glasses,VENETIAN & FACON de VENISE GLASS in Allaire Collection

The following are examples of  Venetian & Façon de Venise glass.

PITKIN FLASKS, EARLY AMERICAN GLASS

Posted in Uncategorized by Allaire Collection of Glass on November 4, 2020

The American Pitkin Flasks in the Allaire Collection

 

pitkins Rear row A8MW A39MW A7NE Front row A19MW A43NE

Front row A 19, A 43, Rear row A8, A39, A7

 

Pitkin Flask: Small bottle of green glass in an ovoid and flattened shape made by the “Half-Post Method”. In this method a gather of glass called a post is put back in the POT and a second gather is put on it so it covers about half of the post. It is then put in a vertical ribbed pattern mold and partly expanded and removed from the mold then swirled right or left. Also there are types in which the ribs are left it the vertical position. In the case of the popcorn Pitkin it is put in the mold a second time vertical ribs are put over swirled ribs call a broken swirl double pattern. Then the flask is expanded to the ovoid and flattened shape.

 

Originally these flasks were made in The Pitkin Glass Works in Manchester,CT (1788-1830).They were made later in other parts of New England and in the Midwest (e. g. Zanesville, Ohio 1810-1830).Today they are classified as being New England Pitkins or Midwestern Pitkins. You can usually tell the difference by counting the ribs. The New England is 36 ribs and Midwestern 16 ribs. In addition to various shades of green they can be found in amber, blue (rare), amethyst (rare) and colorless glass. The flasks came in two main sizes, half pint and pint, used as a pocket flasks for whiskey.

 

Ref: Glass Vol. 2, Bottles, Lamps & Other Objects, Jane Spillman, 1983 #46