Beaker with Whistle

Object Name: 
Beaker with Whistle

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Object Name: 
Beaker with Whistle
Place Made: 
probably Low Countries (mount)
perhaps Netherlands, Amsterdam
probably Italy, Venice (glass)
perhaps Belgium, Antwerp
Accession Number: 
51.3.280
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 20.5 cm; Rim Diam (max): 9.4 cm; Without Whistle H: 9.8 cm
Location: 
Not on Display
Date: 
beaker made about 1630
mount 1673
Web Description: 
This goblet is a variation of windmill beakers, which were used for drinking games. By blowing into the air tube, actually a whistle, the player set the paddle wheel spinning above. Before it stopped, the glass had to be emptied. A bell was often attached below to sound a successful ending to the drinking game. An inscription on a silver beaker of this type from Nuremberg that is dated 1575 indicates that such a vessel also served as a welcome glass. (see 79.3.360)

More Info

Department: 
European
Provenance: 
Rosenberg and Stiebel, Source
1951-11-23
Neuberg, Frederick, Former Collection
Spitzer, Frederic, Former Collection
11893
Category: 
Renaissance
Baroque
Technique: 
fire polishing
Inscription: 
1673
inscription
: 
paddle wheel

Description

Primary Description: 
Beaker with Whistle. Conical bowl with fire polished rim and rounded base; plain merese. Vetro a reticello decoration, with air bubbles trapped between canes. Gadrooned mount, with attached open cage containing bell. Above this, whistle: winged dragon with open mouth and curled tail. Frame to sides of dragon consists of herms, supporting arch with three thin, turned finials; fixed inside arch is paddle wheel of four compartments, one of which bears inscribed date “1673.”

Exhibitions (1)

Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2004-05-13 through 2004-10-17

Publications (7)

The Techniques of Renaissance Venetian Glassworking (2016) illustrated BIB# 149619
Study Days on Venetian Glass: Approximately 1600's (2014) illustrated, pp. 178, 180 (fig. 1);
Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750 (2004) illustrated, p. 263, no. 5B; BIB# 79761
Objects of Fantasy: Glass Inclusions of the Nineteenth Century (2001) illustrated, p. 60, right; BIB# 68390
Hikari no shouchu: sekai no garasu = The glass (1992) illustrated, p. 31, #47; BIB# 58995
Three Great Centuries of Venetian Glass (1958) #77; BIB# 63296
The Art of Glass (1939) #362, pl. 118; BIB# 25805