Vase
Manufacturer
James Powell & Sons
Manufacturer
Unknown
CultureEnglish
Dateca. 1900
MediumBlown and optic-molded glass
DimensionsOverall: 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Overall, Rim: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
Base: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)
Overall, Rim: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)
Base: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.5638
Not on view
Description"Verre de soie"; pattern molded colorless flint in trumpet shape with spiral ribbing and flaring crimped rim, "baluster" stem with gadrooning and applied foot. Body of bowl acid frosted -- entire piece slightly iridescent, pontil rough and partially ground.Label TextJames Powell & Sons London, England Vase, ca. 1900 Blown and optic-molded glass Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.5638 Although it was period of rapid imperial and industrial advancement, Victorian Britain grappled with defining a national style. Manufacturers and designers re-imagined historical styles as part of a design reform. A rediscovery of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Venetian glassmaking techniques took place around the middle of the nineteenth century and greatly influenced the British glass industry. These two vases were made in a Venetian style. They are blown very thinly in a soda-lime formula glass versus the lead formula glass used in cut and engraved items. They have optic molding, hand-tooled stems, and finely blown feet. They are extremely delicate and transparent in appearance. However, the pale green color of the vase on the left and the slightly iridescent surface of the vase on the right would not have occurred in Renaissance glass, indicating that nineteenth-century glassmakers were not limited to exact replicas. Exhibition History"Cheers to Queen Victoria: British Glass from the Chrysler Collection," Waitzer Community Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, September 22, 2010 - March 20, 2011.
ca. 1875-1925
