Pitcher

Notice of Upcoming Content and Access Change

The Museum is working on the future of our online collections access. A new version will be available later in 2023. During this transition period, the current version of the Collections Browser may have reduced functionality and data may be not be updated. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For any questions or concerns, please contact us.

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

Object Name: 
Pitcher
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
2003.3.70
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 24.9 cm, W: 15.9 cm, D: 14.2 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1550-1600
Credit Line: 
Purchased in part with funds from the Houghton Endowment Fund
Web Description: 
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.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Fish, Christopher, Former Collection
2003-12-15
Category: 
Primary Description: 
Pitcher. 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.
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass
Changing Exhibitions Gallery
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2004-05-13 through 2004-10-17
 
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; BIB# 135965
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; BIB# AI63553
Handle with Care (2004-05-16) illustrated, pp. 1E, 3E;
From the Executive Director's Desk (2004) illustrated, cover, p. 1; BIB# AI62233
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 2003 (2004) illustrated, cover, ff.; BIB# AI93746
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;
A Tour of Renaissance Europe Through Glass (2004) illustrated, p. 4; BIB# AI63624
Looking at Glass From Every Angle (2004) illustrated, p. 59;