Wine Glass
Wine Glass
Wine glass, the bowl engraved with Chinoiserie motifs of pagoda and trees, double series opaque twist stem and conical foot, English, c.1780. John Butler Collection
This month the Treasure has been chosen by a Chinese visitor to Fairfax House:
“I was surprised to see a drinking glass decorated with a Chinese pagoda. I thought it was very odd. When I was told how old it was, I was very surprised: it must have been a very special piece to have lasted so long! I wonder who owned it. The glass is so fine, delicate and elegant. The person who made it must have felt as if he was cutting a gem or carving a stone.”
The 18th century passion for Chinese decorative motifs, or Chinoiserie, as it is known today, was not a short-lived nor was it a feeble trend.
Chinese and Oriental themes were so popular in the West at that time, that they were employed to decorate most type of surfaces, from ceramics to silver, from furniture to glass, from wallpaper to garden follies.
Chinese scenes on English glass are known to have been engraved mostly between 1760s and 1780s. The motifs used were often copied from porcelain or enamelled earthenware. It has also been suggested that Chinoiserie glasses would have been engraved in Bristol (W. Thorpe, A History of English and Irish Glass, (1929)) but not much evidence is available.
A glass like this one would have been rather expensive to purchase. It would have been found on the table of wealthy middle class households where it would have been used for drinking fine wine during convivial dining.
Its survival is a testimony of its uniqueness and charm.
This month the Treasure has been chosen by a Chinese visitor to Fairfax House:
“I was surprised to see a drinking glass decorated with a Chinese pagoda. I thought it was very odd. When I was told how old it was, I was very surprised: it must have been a very special piece to have lasted so long! I wonder who owned it. The glass is so fine, delicate and elegant. The person who made it must have felt as if he was cutting a gem or carving a stone.”
The 18th century passion for Chinese decorative motifs, or Chinoiserie, as it is known today, was not a short-lived nor was it a feeble trend.
Chinese and Oriental themes were so popular in the West at that time, that they were employed to decorate most type of surfaces, from ceramics to silver, from furniture to glass, from wallpaper to garden follies.
Chinese scenes on English glass are known to have been engraved mostly between 1760s and 1780s. The motifs used were often copied from porcelain or enamelled earthenware. It has also been suggested that Chinoiserie glasses would have been engraved in Bristol (W. Thorpe, A History of English and Irish Glass, (1929)) but not much evidence is available.
A glass like this one would have been rather expensive to purchase. It would have been found on the table of wealthy middle class households where it would have been used for drinking fine wine during convivial dining.
Its survival is a testimony of its uniqueness and charm.
This object is located in the Dining Room
It is categorised as Miscellaneous
This page was last updated on 13 March 2008