Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2015.

The Intruders

Artist George Woodall (British, 1850 - 1925)

Artist Thomas Woodall (English, 1849-1926)

Manufacturer Thomas Webb & Sons (British (Stourbridge, England), 1837 - 1990)

CultureEnglish

Dateca. 1893

MediumBlow, cased, etched, and cameo-carved glass

DimensionsOverall: 16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm)

Inscribed"T & G Woodall," engraved on front, lower right

Credit LineGift of Rebecca W. Hitt in memory of Billy Hitt and Museum purchase with the assistance of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Shannon

Object number99.19

Collections

Glass Art

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-5, Case 35

DescriptionThis is a blown, cased, etched and cameo-carved glass plaque. It has an overall appearance of a large dish. At the center of the plaque, a tall female figure (perhaps Aphrodite) stands on a marble floor beside a body of gently rippling water as though she had recently been bathing. Scantily clad in diaphanous drapery, she is beset by two flying putti who playfully tug at the drapery in an attempt to disrobe her. Immediately to the right of the putti is the facade of a Greco-Roman temple with six columns and a pediment that contains a charioteer and four horses. Between the putti, still more distant buildings may be seen. To the left of the female figure is a marble column on a raised plinth--the column surrounded by foliage. In the foreground is a bowl of fruit, an amphora on its side, and a draped bronze three-legged vessel with monopodia. The entire scene is framed at top with drapery festoon that gives the effect of a stage curtain. There is a foliate border around the whole, a beaded edge with a solid band.

Label TextThomas Woodall English (1849-1926) George Woodall English (1850-1925) Thomas Webb & Son Stourbridge, England The Intruders, ca. 1893 Blown, cased, acid-etched, and cameo-carved glass, 16 3/4 in. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Gift of Rebecca W. Hitt in memory of Billy Hitt and Museum purchase with the assistance of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Shannon 99.19 Imagined scenes of the ancient classical world were popular subject matter on cameo glass. Here, the pediment of the temple contains an image of Neptune in a chariot drawn by four horses and flanked by dolphins. A tall female figure-perhaps Aphrodite-stands on a marble floor beside a body of gently rippling water as though she had recently been bathing. Scantily clad in diaphanous drapery, she is beset by two flying cherubs who playfully tug at the drapery in an attempt to disrobe her. The cherubs are masterfully foreshortened and the textures of marble and flowing textiles are executed with astonishing realism. This plaque is an example of George and Thomas Woodall's virtuoso cameo-carving. They were masters at rendering images of the classical world in full perspective-an effect never achieved by the Romans. Exhibition History"Cameo Performances: Masterpieces of Cameo Glass from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA., June 29, 2008 - December 30, 2012. Published ReferencesGeoffrey W. Beard, _Nineteenth Century Cameo Glass_ (Newport, England: The Ceramic Book Company, 1956), 130, fig. 30. Ray and Lee Grover. ENGLISH CAMEO GLASS. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. 1980: 125, C-104. Sidney M. Goldstein, and Leonard S. & Juliette K. Rakow. CAMEO GLASS: MASTERPIECES FROM 2000 YEARS OF GLASSMAKING. The Corning Museum of Glass. 1982: 72, no. 62. Daniel Wildenstein, Director. GAZETTE DES BEAUX-ARTS. Paris: Les Beaux-Arts. 03/2000: 64, no. 248. Eleanor Gustafson. "Museum Accessions," THE MAGAZINE ANTIQUES. June 2000: 864. Christopher Woodall Perry. THE CAMEO GLASS OF THOMAS AND GEORGE WOODALL. Somerset, England: Richard Dennis. 2000: 63. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 129, fig. 158. Don Harrison, "Art Unveiled," _Coastal Virginia Magazine,_ April 2014, 52. Kelly Conway, "The Reunion of The Attack and Intruders: Refining a Collection" _Journal of Glass Studies_ 56 (2014): 367. Diane C. Wright (editor), _Glass Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017), pg. 113-115.