2 Cup Fragments

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Object Name: 
2 Cup Fragments
Accession Number: 
62.1.24
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 3.4 cm
Location: 
Not on Display
Date: 
99 BCE-99 CE
Primary Description: 
Opaque white over translucent purple (?) and translucent green on translucent deep blue. Blown; covered with six overlays: from wall outward, white, purple, green, white, green, and purple; carved, cut, ground, and polished. Three fragments from wall of cup: two joining to make (a) and (b). Plain rim with single lathe-cut groove on inside; wall curves very slightly outward near top, then curves in toward bottom. Outer surface decorated in relief. Inner surface has faint horizontal striations and many fewer transverse scratches at various angles. Fragment (a): part of frieze with figured scene containing, from left to right: left edge and part of drape (A) extending across entire fragment, suspended from tree (B) and decorated with (1) circular object between two bar-like elements that meet at right angle and have notches in outer ends, (2) horizontal rectangular panel with beaded border enclosing double acanthus scroll, and (3) below panel, open circle containing disk with five-pointed star; (B) behind drape, part of tree with large oval leaves; (C) naked young man moving to right; he has curly hair and fillet of vine leaves with cluster of grapes on forehead, clean-shaven face shown in profile, looking slightly downward, torso turned three-quarters away from viewer, right arm extended forward, left arm bent carrying drape over forearm; (D) beneath right hand of (C), part of unidentified object; behind drape, (E) draped arm extended to left with lamp-like object in hand. Tree is purple and green; drape (A) is green, carved close to underlying purple in places to suggest shadows, with white decoration; young man is white with fillet of green leaves and purple grapes, and green drape. Fragment (b): part of female figure facing right, with head flung back, left arm raised and bent back behind head, and right arm extended forward and raised; arms and shoulder bare; on head, fillet of green vine leaves and red grapes; behind and above left elbow, small part of unidentified red object. Fragment (a) retains part of rim; fragment (b) is broken on all sides. Blue glass has slightly iridescence; much of green glass and some white glass have light brown weathering.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Sangiorgi, Giorgio (Italian, 1886-1965), Source
1962-07-17
Category: 
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.
Chemical Analyses of Early Glasses (Volume 3) (2012) pp. 387, 682; BIB# 61154
Antikes Glas (Handbuch der Archaologie) (2004) illustrated, p. 204, 215 (Taf. 178); BIB# 83444
Objects of Fantasy: Glass Inclusions of the Nineteenth Century (2001) illustrated, p. 75, #39; BIB# 68390
Chemical Analyses of Early Glasses (Volume 1) (1999) pp. 77, 249; BIB# 61154
Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Volume One (1997) pp. 51-52, #48A-B; p. 328, #48A-B; BIB# 58895
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, p. 28; p. 29, #18; BIB# 33211
The Portland Vase (1990) illustrated, pp. 163-164, figs. 127-128; BIB# AI74242
The Ancient Art of Cameo Glass (1985) pp. 34-36; BIB# AI14995
Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking (1982) illustrated, pp. 24, 100-101, #8; BIB# 30609
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 26, #18; BIB# 21161
Recent Important Acquisitions, 5 (1963) pp. 140-141, #4; BIB# AI87079