Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Milton Vase

Artist John Northwood I (English, 1836-1902)

CultureEnglish

Date1878

MediumBlown, cased, etched, and cameo-carved glass

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (33.7 x 5.7 cm)

InscribedEngraved: "John Northwood 1878"

Credit LineGift of Rebecca W. Hitt in memory of Billy Hitt and Museum purchase

Object number97.2

Collections

Glass Art

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-5, Case 38

DescriptionVase; High neck with handles; Blown transparent blue glass cased with opaque white cameo carved in high relief with images after Milton's PARADISE LOST of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden on one side and the six-winged angel Raphael, on the other side.

Label TextJohn Northwood I English (1836-1902) Milton Vase, 1878 Blown cased glass, etched, cameo-carved Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Gift of Rebecca W. Hitt in memory of Billy Hitt and Museum purchase 97.2 Depicting a scene from John Milton's Paradise Lost, this vase is arguably the first great original object in the cameo-revival style. The scene is of the angel Raphael's descent to earth for a kindly visit with Adam and Eve, before their fall from grace. Described in Paradise Lost book V, lines 274-330, this moment in the story was extremely popular with illustrators. Adam, with Eve at his side, points to the alighting angel and speaks, "Haste hither, Eve, and worth thy sigh, behold, Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape Comes this way moving; seems another morn Risen on mid-noon. Some great behest from Heaven To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe This day to be our guest…" The six-winged angel on the vase closely matches Milton's description of Raphael, and Northwood's choice of theme gave him an excuse to carve a classically undraped male and female nude in a Christian context. Exhibition HistoryWorld's Fair, Paris, France, 1878. The British Museum, 1959-1975. "Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking," The Corning Museum of Glass, 1982. "Glass from the World's Fair's," The Corning Museum of Glass, 1986. "Cameo Performances: Masterpieces of Cameo Glass from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA., June 29, 2008 - December 30, 2012. Published ReferencesLeicester, Joseph, "Report Upon Table and Fancy Glass," THE SOCIETY OF ARTISAN REPORTS ON THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION OF 1878, London, 1879, 130-131. See Appendix I for an excerpt from the text. Ruel P. Tolman, "Cameo Glass," _Antiques_, XXXII, no. 5. (November 1937): 236-239, fig. 7. (2 views: Angel; Adam & Eve). Beard, Geoffrey W., NINETEENTH CENTURY CAMEO GLASS, The Ceramic Book Company, Newport, Monmouthshire, England, 1956, 16-17, 20-22, ill. 98, fig. 5. Also see general text for Northwood's contribution to English cameo. Northwood, John II, JOHN NORTHWOOD: HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE STOURBRIDGE FLINT GLASS INDUSTRY 1850-1902, Mark and Moody Limited, Stourbridge, 1958, 43, ill. 52. Wakefield, Hugh, NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH GLASS, Faber and Faber Limited, London, 1961, 106-111. Duffy, E. Mary, "Phillip Pargeter and John Northwood I: cameo glass pioneers," ANTIQUES, December 1962, 639-641, ill. 640. ART AT AUCTION: THE YEAR AT SOTHEBY PARKE BERNET 1974-1975, The Viking Press, New York, ill. 443. Norman, Geraldine, "Copy of the Portland vase sells for 30,000 british pounds and leaves the country," THE TIMES, London, Friday, July 25, 1975. (See Appendix II for a photocopy of the article.) Braby, Michael, "Rivalling the Romans," ART & ANTIQUES, vol. 20, no. 7, September 6, 1975, 26-29, ill. p. 26. Davis, Frank, "The Art of Cameo Glass," COUNTRY LIFE, vol. 158, October 16, 1975, 978-979, ill. pl. 1. Newman, Harold, AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF GLASS, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, 1977, 109, ill. Morris, Barbara, VICTORIAN TABLE GLASS & ORNAMENTS, Barrie & Jenkins Limited, London, 1978, 106-110, color ill. pl. VII. Grober, Ray and Lee, ENGLISH CAMEO GLASS, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1980, 11-12, 18, 70, color ill. 400, C376, C376A, C377. Farrar, Estelle Sinclaire, "John Northwood and English Cameo Glass," ART & ANTIQUES, vol. 4, July/August 1981, 50-55. Goldstein, Sidney M. , and Leonard S. & Juliette K. Rakow, CAMEO GLASS: MASTERPIECES FROM 2000 YEARS OF GLASSMAKING, The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 1982, 44, 108, color ill. 59. Rakow, Leonard S. & Juliette K., "The cameo glass of John Northwood I, ANTIQUES, vol CXXII, no. 1, July 1982, 112-116, color ill. 113. Charleston, Robert J., ENGLISH GLASS, George Allen & Urwin Ltd., London, 1984, 215. Spillman, Jane Shadel, GLASS FROM THE WORLD'S FAIRS 1851-1904, The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 1986, 35, color ill. 36, fig. 15. Hajamach, Charles R., BRITISH GLASS 1800-1914, Antique Collectors' Club Ltd., England, 1991, pp. 211-214, color ill. p. 205, pl. 16. See also Appendix 8 "Documents relating to John Northwood I, 436-439. Whitehouse, David, ENGLISH CAMEO GLASS IN THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS, The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 1994, 20, color ill. 21. Revi, Albert Christian, NINETEENTH CENTURY GLASS: ITS GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT, Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York, date, 135-142. Arwas, Victor, "John Northwood," GLASS ART NOUVEAU TO ART DECO, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987), 240-247. "Recent Important Acquistions," JOURNAL OF GLASS STUDIES, Volume 40 (1998), 152-153. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 122 det. & 155, fig. 127. 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. 104-105.