Antony and Cleopatra

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Object Name: 
Plaque
Title: 
Antony and Cleopatra
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
89.2.6
Dimensions: 
Overall Diam (max): 47.7 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1895
Credit Line: 
Gift of Juliette K. Rakow in memory of Leonard S. Rakow
Primary Description: 
Opaque white, amethyst, lead glass; blown, etched, cameo-carved. Shallow, circular shape, with slightly upturned rim; etched design of Marc Antony visiting Cleopatra, done mainly in outline, with only slight amounts of carving; depicting a man holding a baton in his right hand, walking toward a woman reclining on a bed with lion support at the head, holding a scepter with lotus tip; a tripod table at the right, laden with fruit, a vase, and bowl; three servants in the background, two with ostrich feather fans, the third with a staff; a large figure of a sphinx at the left; four columns with lotus capitals in the background; an elaborate border with repeated lotus flowers in sets of threes, divided into three panels by pairs of confronting sphinxes holding lotus plants; reverse with ground area at center to remove pontil mark.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Rakow Estate, Juliette K. (Mrs. Leonard S.) (d. 1992), Source
1989-06-07
Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 1982-05-01 through 1982-10-31
Cameo glass, one of the most costly and difficult decorating techniques since first century B.C., is documented and illustrated in this catalog. Included are examples from Rome, Islam, and China, as well as English 19th-century masterpieces by John Northwood and George Woodall among others. For the purposes of this catalog, the term “cameo glass” is used to refer to cased glass objects with two or more differently colored layers. The outer layer is usually an opaque or opalescent white, and the outer layer or layers have been carved in to leave the decoration standing in relief against a body of contrasting color. Shading is produced by thinning down the carved layer; highlights are created where the glass is left thickest. Both this catalog, and the exhibition for which it was created, documents the 2000-year cameo glass tradition.
English Cameo Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (1994) illustrated, pp. 13, 59, fig. 6; BIB# 35913
Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking (1982) illustrated, pp. 95, 129, #153; BIB# 30609