Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2012.

Images(3)

Lemonade Glass (Etched With "The Departure Of Briseis From The Tent Of Achilles" After John Flaxman)

Manufacturer W. L. Libbey & Son, New England Glass Works (American)

Date1884

Mediumblown | Acid-etched glass | Lead glass

DimensionsOverall: 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)
Overall, Rim: 2 3/8 in. (6 cm)

ClassificationsGlass

Credit LinePurchase, The Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Institute of Glass Fund

Object number96.11

Terms

Male figure
Greek mythology
Colorless
East Cambridge, Ma

Collections

Glass Art

On View

On view

DescriptionBlown colorless lead-formula glass in tall cylindrical form, slightly tapering toward the base, applied handle midway on side. Acid-etched with frieze depicting "The Departure of Briseis from the Tent of Achilles" copied from Plate 3 of John Flazman's illustrations to THE ILIAD OF HOMER. This object is ostensibly in the neo-grec style, but owes much to the aesthetic movement, which favored light, thin-walled tableware, lightly decorated with engraving or etching. This glass is quite unusual for an American etched glass that it has an iconographic program. From left to right the figures represent: Achilles (seated), Patroclus, Briseis, and the sacred heralds Talthybius and Eurybates. This object is a lemonade glass; lemonade glasses in this general form were made by both W.L. Libbey & Son and the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. This object is so elaborate that it may well have been made for exhibition rather than actual use. Lemonade, a costly beverage at the beginning of the 19th century, had generally been made with spirits.