Antique Glass. VASE WITH ENAMELLED DECORATION, SPOUTED WINE-GLASS IN CLEAR COLOURLESS GLASS, WITH GILDING AND PAINTING
The blank was then subjected to an acid
bath, to give the surface a matt finish.
Knamels were applied somewhat thinly,
except in areas that were to have a raised
design, and these were fired on. The most
popular colours were whiles, tans and soft
pastel shades, though occasionally brighter
colours were employed. The usual floral,
figural, animal, bird and fish motifs of the
Mt. Washington Glass Company were
used on this ware. Ornate handles, finials
and prunts were also to be found. The
initials ‘C apd ‘M’ one upon the other,
with a five-pointed crown above, was the
trademark, though occasionally the crown
was omitted. Thomas Webb & Sons of
Kngland produced a similar ware some
time between 1880 00, as illustrated
above. The New Bedford works may have
produced the so-called ‘Shiny Crown
Milano’, a glossy white opal glass, usually
with gold-coloured floral decoration. It is
found with a red laurel wreath fired to the
bottom of the glass.
In 1870 I lenry Cielhing Richardson of the
firm of Hodgetts, Richardson & Son of
Stourbridge, Kngland, patented a method
for ‘Improvements In Producing Orna-
ments, Designs, And Inscriptions On Or
In Glass’. A wide open-mouthed vessel in
clear glass was made, and when it had
cooled, had a design enamelled on its
inside. The thin-walled vessel was then
heated to a low redness while a second
smaller bubble of opal or other coloured
glass was lowered into it. This was blown
until it attached itself to the inside of the
vessel, thus covering and imprisoning the
enamelled design between the two layers.
The designs were painted so that when the
paraison expanded they did not distort too
much. The same effect could be made by
painting a design in coloured enamels on
an opal or coloured glass and then
immersing this in clear colourless glass to
lock the design in. Once the design was
imprisoned, the glass could be shaped into
the article wanted.
mary gregory vase in green glass with girl and
butter ely net enamelled in white
Atlributcd to Boston & Sandwich Glass Company,
U.S.A., iqth century
So-called ‘Mary Gregory’ glass is a trans-
parent coloured glassware with white or
coloured enamel designs painted and fired
on to the surface. It was a cheap imitation
of English cameo glass, but with a certain
merit of its own. Such wares were made
more prolifically on the Continent than in
America. However, much of the ware has
been erroneously attributed to one of the
older American glass factories in Sand-
wich, Mass., the Boston & Sandwich Glass
Company. The firm is known primarily
for its pressed wares of the early 1830’s,
but later it produced some decorated
glasses, possibly including enamelled glass
of this type. A Mary Gregory is supposed
to have been employed in the decorating
department of the Cape Cod works, which
is the reason for the name given to the
glass. Some genuine Boston & Sandwich
pieces depict young children engaged in
butterfly-collecting, the detail, including
the childrens’ facial features, being beauti-
fully finished.
vase with enamelled decoration
Signed Moser, Bohemia, early 20th century
Ht. 26c mm
Bohemian sources continued to search for
a cheaper method of producing work with
the same surface decorative effect as
English cameo work. They usually
achieved this in Mary Gregory style, with
simulated cameo decoration in extremely
fine white enamel work on overlay vases.
Their work was good, but unfortunately it
depressed the fine English cameo market,
since the genuine cameo work was expen-
sive to produce. In a different category of
enamelling technique comes the work of
Kolo Moser, a Bohemian designer as well
as decorator of glass in the early tooo’s,
who was counted as one of the finer
European glassmen of this period. His
pieces can be recognised by their very fine
enamelling, as in the vase illustrated.
Moser’s work included the introduction to
the market of an amethyst dichroic trans-
parent glass called ‘Alexandria (not to be
confused with the three-coloured ware of
Thomas Webb and Stevens & Williams of
England, which went under the name of
‘Alexandrite’).
VASE WITH ENAMELLED DECORATION
by Maurice Marinoi, France, c. 1920.
Hi. 343 mm (13 50 in.)
Maurice Marinot (born 1882), the most
decisive personality in the history of art
glass between the wars, began as a painter.
Between 1905 and 1914 he was exhibiting
regularly, already showing a tendency for
clear and orderly composition and an
imaginative use of colour. He was intro-
duced to glass-making in 1911, when he
visited the glass factory of Viard near
Troyes, and started to direct the produc-
tion of glass, which he himself decorated
with enamels. His glasses became col-
lectors’ items almost immediately, espec-
ially after his exhibition at the Salon des
link-pendants in 1912. Simple in shape,
they were decorated with the heads and
figures of women. As he began to under-
stand better the technique of enamelling,
his colours became even richer and the
texture finer. The pieces he made after the
First World War showed extraordinary
freedom and refinement, and the colours
had great subtlety, though his pre-war
pieces had a youthful zest which was all
their own.
SPOUTED WINE-GLASS IN CLEAR COLOURLESS GLASS, WITH
GILDING AND PAINTING
Hall-in-ihe-Tyrol, 1536. Ht. 335 mm (1315 in.)
Cold Painted Glass: Unfired colours, such
as lacquer, varnish and oil pigments, have
all been used to decorate glass, but they
easily rub off, and must therefore be con-
sidered a poorer form of coloured decora-
tion than fired enamels. Examples of
Roman glass with unfired paintings have
been found. It is also known that at about
the middle of the 16th century, after
enamelling had gone out of fashion, a form
of decoration in unfired oil colours was in
favour in Italy. Elaborate pictorial sub-
jects were used, often based on Raphael’s
work, with elaborate gilt scroll-work, but
the decoration was naturally very liable to
damage. Unfired lacquer painting and
gilding was used as decoration at the Hall-
in-the-Tyrol glass-house, which flourished
in the third quarter of the 16th century.
The spouted ewer illustrated is typical of
this work. In England, cheaper glass
products of the 19th century, such as
rolling pins and sugar basins, bore unfired
painted decoration.
Adding: The Skill of the Decorator
Lustre-painted Glass: An old technique
which was neither cold painting nor
enamelling, but did involve the firing-on
of a film of pigment to the glass, was known
as lustre painting. Depending on the
firing, the film became more or less
lustrous, and was almost imperceptible to
the touch. Exactly how it was done has
never been discovered, but there is reason
to connect the technique with that of
lustre-painting on tin-glazed pottery which
was practised first in Mesopotamia in the
9th century A.D. The method depended
on the reduction of metallic compounds
such as silver, copper or gold to the
metallic state by means of the carbon in
smoke. Generally speaking, the lustre
produced was reddish-brown in colour.
The technique was first practised in
Egypt, in either the late Byzantine or early
Islamic period, and was probably known
to Syrian glass-makers. In more modern
times platinum and bismuth have been
used as metallic compounds to produce
lusires on glassware (see Iridescent Glass).
Gold Decoration: Gold Sandwich Glass:
Apart from gold included in mosaic glass,
some of the earliest examples of gold
decoration are the gold sandwich glasses
found at Canosa in Apulia, Italy, dating to
the 3rd century B.C. (see Techniques
Before Blowing). After blowing was in-
vented in the 1st century B.C. the tech-
nique of sandwiching gold foil between
two glass layers was not abandoned, but
reached its most prolific period in approx-
imately the 4th century A.D. The majority
of these gilded glasses of the 3rd and 4th
centuries A.D. were found in the cata-
combs around Rome, embedded in the
plaster of the loculi, probably put there by
the relatives of the dead. These early
Christian fondi <f oro, as they are some-
times called, arc in fact the bases of
shallow bowls or dishes. The gold leaf
which was put inside the base ring of the
glass was engraved and sometimes, as in
the above example, had additional painted
decoration. This was covered with a
further protective layer of glass, which
was fused or cemented’to the base of the
bowl.
fragment of a bowi. in gold sandwich glass
depicting christ
lialy, 4ih century A.D. Diam. 90 mm (3′55 >n-)
The glass was broken away to the edge of
the gold decoration, so that a medallion-
like effect was achieved. Sometimes the
outer layer was coloured, but usually both
layers of glass were colourless. The sub-
jects depicted were taken from Jewish and
Christian symbolism and Biblical history,
but pagan motifs also appeared, such as
scenes from games and Classical myth-
ology, and dedications can be found to
circus heroes as well as to saints. The ware
was almost certainly manufactured at a
workshop in or near Rome. The name of a
4th-century A.D. bishop, Damasus, ap-
pears on several fragments, which helps
to date them, and since no more burials
took place in the catacombs after about
410 A.D., this could be assumed to be
their latest date. The workmanship on the
gold sandwich glasses is not usually of high
artistic merit. A disadvantage of the
technique was that air bubbles might get
between the two layers of glass and
disfigure the design.
tumbler in ‘/.mschengoldglas technique
Bohemia, about 1730. Ht. 89 mm (35 in.)
(See also colour photographs /(j and 14)
The gold sandwich technique is believed
to have been used in Rhenish glass
factories in Roman times. Fragments with
painted decoration have been found in
Cologne, in a style not seen on the glasses
from Rome. A series of Byzantine tiles
dating from somewhere between the 6th
and the 12th centuries A.D. differs in
being made up of fused gold glass covered
with a film of colourless glass. The method
was revived in the 18th century in Ger-
many, the products being called Zwischen-
goldgldser. Gold leaf was applied and
engraved on the outside of a tumbler,
which had previously been ground down
for about three-quarters of its height, a
projecting shoulder being left at the top.
A polygonal bottomless glass was then put
over the gold decoration, fitting neatly to
the shoulder. This outer glass projected a
little below the base of the tumbler, and a
further disc of glass, similarly gold-
engraved, was fixed in the space left.
Obviously, perfect precision was needed
if an airtight fit was to be achieved.
Bohemia, about 1710. Hi. 241 mm (9*5 in.)
Silver leaf as well as gold was used in
Zwischengoldgldser, and additions of ruby,
pink and green transparent lacquers occur
on some of the more elaborate later
examples-. This renewal of the gold sand-
wich glass technique seems to have been
concentrated in Bohemia at one or two
workshops. The best specimens date from
the 1730’s, but less skilled work was done
until about 1755. The glasses were deli-
cately engraved in gold with hunting
scenes, figures of saints and shields of arms,
usually of Bohemian families. That the
artists were aware of their early Christian
predecessors seems apparent from the
motifs used for the base discs of their
tumblers, such as the IHS monogram, and
Christian emblems comparable to those of
the early gold sandwich discs. Views of
monasteries and of local Bohemian saints
are among the decorations, the detail on
the gold leaf being scratched on with a
point. Though tumblers were the com-
monest shape used, other forms are found,
such as the covered goblet illustrated.
iimkik with medallions in TwiuhtWtUfUii
Johann Joseph Mildncr, Lower Austria, 1800
Ht. 102 mm (4 in.)
The gold sandwich glass technique was
also used in a highly personal way by
Johann Joseph Mildner (1763-1808) of
Gutenbrunn in Lower Austria. His finely
decorated gift tumblers have medallion
panels, decorated with red lacquer and
gold leaf in the Zwischengoldglas technique,
let in flush with the surface of the glass in
spaces cut exactly to receive them. Por-
traits, monograms, arms, allegories, land-
scapes, still life pieces and representations
of saints were used by him as motifs.
he inserted in his medallions
miniature portraits painted in colours on
parchment. Sometimes the medallions
were inserted in the bottom of the tumblers
as well as on the sides. A poem might be
scratched on the reverse side of the
medallion. Signed works are known be-
tween 1787 and 1808. The glasses arc
usually cylindrical, and are among the best
work produced in the Kmpire period.
Mildner’s technique continued the tradi-
tion established by the ancient Roman
medallions and the Zwischengoldgldser.
Stevens & Williams, England, beginning of 20th
century. Ht. 220 mm (q in.)
Stevens 6k Williams of Brierley Hill,
England, produced a glassware akin to the
gold sandwich glass technique at the
beginning of this century. John North-
wood II was its inventor, and he developed
it about 1000, calling it ‘Silveria’. It was
made by sandwiching a layer of silver foil
between two layers of clear colourless or
coloured glass. Northwood’s method was
to blow the first bubble of glass to almost
full size before the foil was picked up from
the marver on the bubble. It was then
plunged into a pot of hot metal, which put
a protective film of glass over the foil.
Trails of coloured glass, often transparent
green, were put on the surface somewhat
haphazardly. The original silver lustre is
retained as long as no air gets between the
two layers of glass. Pieces of Silveria are
often marked ‘S’ and ‘W’, and the word
‘England’ or a small fleur de lys may
sometimes appear.
picture in verre eglomise
By Zeuner, Netherlands, late 18th century
Ht. 201 mm (8 in.)
Verre Eglomise: When gold or silver leaf
is fixed to the back of a sheet of colourless
glass and etched with a point, the work
known as ‘verre eglomise’ is produced. This
can be backed with colour, e.g., lacquer or
oil pigments, to show through the areas
where the foil has been scraped away. To
protect the unfired painting and gilding, a
layer of varnish or metal foil or another
sheet of glass can be laid on the back of the
object. The term ‘eglomise’1 is taken from
the name of an 18th-century French
picture-framer called Glomy, who used
the technique extensively. It was also used
by an Amsterdam artist, Zeuner; little is
known of him, apart from his signed work,
though he did visit England in 1778, when
he exhibited a ‘landscape in metals’ at the
Society of Artists of Great Britain. Both
Dutch and English scenes can be found,
usually signed by the artist. Some English
views date to the early years of the 19th
century.
PLATE IN verre eglomise
Kngland, early 19th century
Diam. 219 mm (8-6? in.)
SEGMENT OF DISH WITH GILT DECORATION
Italy, first half of the 16th century
Diam. 191 mm (75 in.)
The pictorial and decorative engraving of
gold leaf on glass has been practised since
before the Roman era, although the name
verre eglomise is fairly modern. Early gold
sandwich glasses can be considered to be
a form of verre eglomise, as can the later
forms of gold-glass, such as the Zwischen-
goldgldser. A variation on the theme was
suggested by Johann Kunckel in his book
Ars Vitraria Experimental!! (1679). In this,
in effect, two beakers were made to fit
exactly together as in the Zwischengold-
glaser, the inner surface of the outer beaker
being painted with delicate veining to
resemble marble. The outer surface of the
inner beaker had gold leaf applied, and was
engraved in the usual manner. When the
two were fitted together, a double effect of
marbling and gilding in the glass could be
achieved. The plate illustrated is a skilful
example of verre eglomise belonging to the
early 19th century.
Gilding on the Outer Surface: Gilding is so
often found in conjunction with enamelling
on glass that it is difficult to separate the
two techniques completely. Both gilt and
enamelled decoration are fired to the glass
in an enameller’s kiln. Islamic artists, who
were such great enamcllers, also produced
gilding on their glasses, though true gild-
ing did not usually appear until after the
fall of Fatimid Dynasty in 1171. It was
during the 12th century that the Egyptian
art of gilding glass was transferred to Syria,
when artists from Egypt took service at the
courts of the rulers of Syria and North-
West Mesopotamia. The Venetians also
notably combined gilding with enamelling
on their glasses, the gilding having a
peculiarly light, soft quality. Occasionally
they used gilding on its own for decoration,
as in the dish illustrated, which has an
inscription appearing through a ground of
light gilding.
Gilding put on the outer surface of the
glass was always in danger of being rubbed
off, and with use many poorly gilded glasses
lost all traces of their original decoration.
Unfired gilt decoration (see next column)
would almost certainly rub off. When gold
in powdered form or as thin gold leaf was
stuck to the glass with an oily or adhesive
medium (as described) it could be fired to
it in an enameller’s kiln. This was a far
more durable way to gild glass, but was
rarely entirely successful. Even the gilding
on 18th-century blue, green and opaque
white Bristol glass, which is notably good,
has suffered a little with the passage of
time. The best-known motifs on Bristol
glass are the gilt fret border as on the dark
blue wine-glass cooler illustrated, and a
chain and label inscribed with the names
of drinks, such as Shrub, Rum, Hollands,
Gin and Brandy which are found on many
decanters; the stoppers of the decanters
often bore the initial of the drinks con-
tained.
DSCANTO WITH ENGRAVED AND GII.T DECORATION
France, end ol the 18th century
Ht. 327 mm (12-88 in.)
A somewhat simplified description of the
process of gilding was given first by
Haudicquer de Blancourt in his De F Art
de la Verrerie (1679). The second and more-
convincing method he described involved
painting the surface of the glass with gum-
water, applying gold leaf and washing the
leaf over with a solution of borax. Glass
ground to an impalpable powder was then
sprinkled over the borax, and the vessel
was put into the furnace and fired. Unfired
gilding was described by an English author
in 1735. A combination of chalk, red-lead
and linseed oil was laid on the glass, gold
leaf was applied and, when the solution
had dried, was polished. Dr. W. Lewis,
writing in 1763, recommended a solution
of amber combined with oil of turpentine
and a small amount of white lead and
minium. When this varnish had been
painted on the glass the gold leaf was
applied, the varnish allowed to dry, and
then the gold decoration was polished.
EWER IN BLUE GI.ASS WITH GII.T DECORATION
India, 18th century A.D. Ht. 280 mm (11 in.)
Unfired gilding could never match the
toughness of gilding which was burned
into the surface of the glass. For this, gold
leaf alone could be applied, or a flux could
be used with it. Gold leaf on its own, as
described by Blancourt, demanded an
extreme nicety in the firing of the glass.
When a flux was used under the gold leaf,
the firing was not nearly so difficult, but
the gilding tended to stand out from the
surface of the glass. Instead of gold leaf, a
precipitate of gold could be mixed with the
flux and fired, but the brightness of the
gilding suffered. For polishing the gold,
wolf, bear or hog’s tooth, or polished agate
and Venetian soap and water, were recom-
mended in an 18th-century manuscript.
Among the striking glassware produced in
India between the late 17th and the 19th
centuries were examples of fine gilding.
The glass illustrated is characteristic of the
Mughal industry, the poppy sprays being
a motif much used during the reign of
Shah Jahan (1627-58) and later.
VASE WITH COVER WITH ENGRAVED
DECORATION
Granja de San lldefonso, Spain, second half of
the 18th century. Hi. 508 mm (20 in.)
{See also colour photographs 1$ and 2;)
This vase is an example of the fired gilding
practised at the Spanish royal glass factory
near the palace of La Granja de San
lldefonso, near Segovia. Spain wished to
rival the French and German glass indus-
tries, and thus encouraged foreign work-
men to establish glass-houses from the late
17th century. There was little success until
Juan Goyeneche, with the help of foreign
workmen, managed to produce a good-
quality clear colourless glass. Encouraged
by Queen Isabella, Buenaventura Sit, one
of Goyeneche’s workmen, set up a glass-
house in 1728 near the palace of La Granja,
where he specialised in mirrors and vessels
in the Catalan tradition. First a French-
man, then a Swede, took charge of hollow-
ware manufacture, until 1768, when a
German, Sigismund Brun, took over the
direction of the factory, introducing fired
gilding and cut and engraved decoration.
After a period of expensive mismanage-
ment, the factory passed in 1829 into
private hands, and thenceforward made
only common glass.