Beaker

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Object Name: 
Beaker
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
56.1.111
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 10.4 cm; Rim Diam: 5.4 cm
Location: 
Not on Display
Date: 
1000-1199
Primary Description: 
Transparent yellowish brown glass with many bubbles and small stones, opaque white glass; blown, applied. Beaker: conical. Rim plain, with rounded lip; wall straight and tapering, with tubular horizontal rib 3.5 cm below lip; foot is shallow cone made by folding, with rounded edge and center pushed in to fill narrow aperture at bottom of wall; pontil mark circular (D. 0.8 cm) with scale at center. Applied decoration on upper and lower wall: (1) narrow white trail wound nearly seven times around top of wall, between lip and 1 cm below it; (2) yellowish brown trail wound once around lower wall, 2.7 cm above edge of foot.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Klejman, J. J., Source
1955-11-30
Durighello, Joseph-Ange, Former Collection
von Gans, Friedrich Ludwig, Former Collection
Category: 
Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting
Venue(s)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art 2024-02-04 through 2024-05-26
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 2024-06-30 through 2024-09-15
Detroit Institute of Arts 2024-11-10 through 2025-02-02
Dining with the Sultan is a pan-Islamic exhibition spanning the eighth through nineteenth centuries and including some 200 works of art representing a rich variety of media from three continents. Our goal is to correlate the objects, many of them rare works of art, with the sourcing, preparation, serving and consumption of food. We expect this to be a transformative exhibition, one emphasizing our shared humanity rather than our singular histories. Following the model of LACMA’s 2011 exhibition Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts, it similarly will introduce our audiences to Islamic art and culture with objects of undisputed quality and appeal, only this time viewed through the universal lens of fine dining. In considering the admittedly very substantial and diffuse theme of feasting at the Islamic courts, we have cast as wide a net as possible in terms of both the time frame and the concept of “fine dining.” The resources that inform this study are two-fold: 1) Works of art that can be identified from their inscriptions or specific shapes as containers and receptacles for food or beverage, or are associated with preparing and serving food, or else those works that are similar to examples described by the written sources, as well as works of art, primarily manuscript illustrations, which depict food preparation and dining. 2) Rich textual sources, including a broad array of cookbooks and books of delicacies, texts on etiquette, instructions for princes, royal memoirs, collections of food poetry and parody, dynastic histories, endowment deeds, kitchen accounts, dietetic and medicinal works, travelers’ narratives, and diplomatic reports and communiqués. Clearly it is the first category that primarily will provide the visual focus of the exhibition, while the second will supply the documentary framework as conveyed through didactic materials and especially the exhibition catalogue. The sheer quantity of primary sources and the large number of relevant first-rate works of art together indicate the importance of gourmet gastronomy to Islamic courtly culture. On a popular level, the exhibition will stimulate not only the eyes but the appetite, reminding visitors of the commonly shared pleasure of food—both its taste and its presentation; it also will promote greater inter-cultural understanding and empathy by introducing American museum visitors to Islamic art through a practice shared and prized by all cultures—the act of coming together to partake of a meal. On a scholarly level, and drawing upon recent research in food and foodways, the exhibition will provide much needed information on the enormous class of luxury objects that may be broadly defined as tableware, while also demonstrating how gustatory discernment was a fundamental activity at the great Islamic courts.
Fire and Vine: The Story of Glass and Wine
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2021-07-03 through 2022-12-31
Explore the many ways glass touches wine as it travels from the grape to your goblet in Fire and Vine: The Story of Glass and Wine. The entwined histories of glass and wine extend back thousands of years, from lavish feasts of ancient Rome, to the polite society of Britain in the 1700s, to formal dinner parties of post-war America, to an essential experience within our contemporary food culture. The strength, impermeability, and versatility of glass has played an important role in every step of wine’s journey, from the production, distribution, sale, and ultimately the enjoyment of this intoxicating beverage. During your visit, you’ll see a rare 2,000-year-old fragment of cameo glass depicting a grape harvest, a still-sealed bottle of wine found in a shipwreck off the coast of England, and an exceptional 400-year-old document describing an “almost unbreakable glass jar” that could prevent wine from spoiling. A focal point of the exhibition will be a dense display of dozens of wine glasses from around the world, representing many styles and tastes, fit for a variety of occasions. You will be able to envision the stories behind the glasses—and imagine yourself partaking from this delicate stemware that’s been part of countless life moments. In the exhibition, you'll also explore how the story of glass and wine has particular relevance in the Finger Lakes of New York State, which has been a nexus for both the glass and wine industries for more than 150 years. Independent, entrepreneurial winemakers and glass artists have found a mutual home in this region, building on historical tradition with new creative energy that makes Corning and the Finger Lakes an international hub for the entwined industries of fire and vine.
 
Wine: Celebration and Ceremony
Venue(s)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 1985-06-04 through 1985-10-13
A Cup of Kindness
Venue(s)
General Foods Collection Gallery 1984-02-01 through 1984-05-01