Corning Museum of Glass

From French, Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, an exhibition in Paris in 1925. A style of design that originated in the 1920s and was popular in western Europe and the United States in the 1930s. Art Deco is distinguished by simple, streamlined shapes and frequently by nonrepresentational motifs.

(from Latin scarabaeus, “beetle”) (1) A beetle, usually the scarabaeid beetle, which was revered by the ancient Egyptians; hence (2) a gem in the form of a beetle, with a design in intaglio on the flat underside.

The technique of forming objects from rods and tubes of glass that, when heated in a flame, become soft and can be manipulated into the desired shape. Formerly, the source of the flame was an oil or paraffin lamp used in conjunction with foot-powered bellows; today, gas-fueled torches are used.

The narrow part of a goblet or tazza that separates the bowl and the foot.

A drinking vessel shaped like a closed pitcher, with a ring handle at the center and two spouts, a short one for filling and pouring, and a longer one through which the beverage can be poured into the drinker’s mouth.

An ancient Roman vessel decorated by undercutting so that the surface decoration stands free of the body of the glass, supported by struts. The vessel appears, therefore, to be enclosed in an openwork cage. Cage cups are sometimes known as diatreta or vasa diatreta.

The technique whereby glass is removed from the surface of an object by grinding it with rotating wheels made of stone, wood, and cork. The first stage of the process employs a stone wheel under a continuous stream of water. Later, wheels of fine-grained stone and wood, fed with various abrasives, are used to grind and polish the surface.