Collection Search

You are here

Ewer

Ewer

 
Print
 
Object Name: 
Ewer
Department
European
Category
Baroque
Place Made: 
Spain, Catalonia
Date: 
about 1550-1600
Color
AAT
colorless
AAT
green
AAT
multicolored
Technique
AAT
glassblowing
AAT
blow molding
AAT
applied decoration
AAT
gilding
Material
AAT
glass
AAT
gold leaf
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 24.9 cm, W: 15.9 cm, D: 14.2 cm
Accession Number: 
2003.3.70
Credit Line: 
Purchased in part with funds from the Houghton Endowment Fund
Location: 
On Display
Description
Colorless glass with green tinge and many minute bubbles, and cane slices in color combinations (1) blue, white, red, white, red; (2) blue, white, red, white, blue(?); (3) transparent yellow, white, red, white, colorless; (4) transparent yellow, white, red, white, blue, white, red(?); Mold-blown, gilded, applied. Compressed globular body with attenuated neck, rim widened into cup-shape. From shoulder upwards mold-blown with spiral ribs, and applied gold-leaf decoration. Lower part of body with second, thin, somewhat irregularily edged gather, mold-blown with vertical ribs, gold leaf decoration, and marvered-in multicolored cane slices. Applied colorless thread below rim. Ear-shaped, ribbed and gilded handle, applied below rim and cast-off on shoulder. Outer ribs on top of handle pinched into two vertical prunts that form a thumb rest. The lower end of handle tooled with pincers as well. Curved, attenuated spout reaching up from shoulder, with applied thread on rim, applied, pincered prunt on back and second, bifurcated prunt on front. Some canes and gilding have been drawn up onto the spout. Attached blown, pedestal foot, widened in the middle, with 12 ribs, outfolded edge, and rough pontil mark in apex. Top portion of foot, including the widened area down into the constriction, with applied, multicolored cane slices, but no gilding. The second gather, gilding, and canes have been applied before blowing the vessel to its final size, thereby tearing the gold into tiny flakes and distorting the canes. The neck has been gilded before applying a second gather to the body, which was gilded subsequently.
Label Text
This is the only known ewer of this shape with millefiori decoration. More common are blue ewers, some with pincered decoration and applied opaque white trails. The millefiori pieces which give this ewer its colorful appearance, are cane sections, not beads or bead chips with hole. Venetian-made vessels with this decoration are rare. Because of the wide distribution of similarily decorated vessels, the presence of Venetian-made cane sections cannot serve as proof that they were made in Venice. Instead, a wider range of production centers-including Spain, where the Islamic style of such ewers would be favored-can be suggested.
Provenance
Fish, Christopher, Former Collection to 2003-12-15
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2004-05-13 through 2004-10-17
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass
Changing Exhibitions Gallery
 
Glass: A Short History (Smithsonian Books edition) (2012) illustrated, pp. 72-73; BIB# 130360
Glass: A Short History (The British Museum edition) (2012) illustrated, pp. 72-73;
The Yearning for Venetian Glass: Beauty that Traversed Oceans and Time (2011) illustrated, p. 13, fig. 7;
Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasants (2010) illustrated, pp. 250-251, #126; BIB# 115588
Frabel: Excellence in Glass Art (2007) illustrated, p. 53; BIB# 100291
European Glass in the Venetian Style 1500-1750 (2004-08) illustrated, p. 69;
Handle with Care (2004-05-16) illustrated, pp. 1E, 3E;
Recent Important Acquisitions, 46 (2004) illustrated, Cover, frontispiece;
Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750 (2004) illustrated, pp. 128-129, no. 8; BIB# 79761
Beyond Venice Glass in Venetian Style, 1450-1750 (2004) illustrated, Cover;
The Gather (2004) illustrated, cover, p. 1;
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 2003 (2004) illustrated, cover, ff.;
A Tour of Renaissance Europe Through Glass (2004) illustrated, p. 4;
Looking at Glass From Every Angle (2004) illustrated, p. 59;

What is AAT?

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (r) is a structured vocabulary for generic concepts related to art and architecture. It was developed by The Getty Research Institute to help research institutions become consistent in the terminology they use.Learn More