Cameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Dragonfly

Object Name: 
Cameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Dragonfly

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Object Name: 
Cameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Dragonfly
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
2016.2.15
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 8.3 cm, W: 4.9 cm, D: 2.9 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1880-1900
1889 (silver)
Credit Line: 
Gift of the Ennion Society
Web Description: 
Harry A. Davies (English, 1862–1937) was a member of the Gem Cameo team and worked on the five-layered Great Tazza on display nearby. He must have been especially proud of this detailed bottle: he carved his initials in the water below the swan.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Kaplan, Leo (d. 2013), Former Collection
Jacobson, Susan Kaplan, Source
2016-09-09
Material: 
Inscription: 
HAD
inscription
Carved (a) near head of snake
23
inscription
Sticker
G. B. W. [image of lion, letter "P", and anchor]
inscription
Stamped (b) around neck of metal cap hallmark for G.B.W. (unidentified), Sterling, 1889, Birmingham
[image of lion]
inscription
Stamped (a) on top of metal collar
Primary Description: 
Cameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Dragonfly. (a) Translucent blue and white glasses, silver; cased, blown, carved, assembled. Flattened teardrop-shaped white on translucent blue glass scent bottle. One side decorated with swan floating on water, snake in water below; reverse decorated with dragonfly and dogwood (?) flower; one narrow side decorated with tree; one narrow side decorated with tall stem with leaves and flowers. Geometric and vegetal border at bottom and top. Threaded silver collar fixed to top of bottle. (b) Undecorated flattened globular silver cap. Cork fixed within top of cap.
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.
English cameo glass perfume bottles (2020) illustrated, p. 12, W22, p. 93, Sc8, Sc9, p. 267, Si11/Sc8;
Acquisitions (2017) illustrated, pp. 30-31 (#20); BIB# AI103665
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 2016 (2016) illustrated, p. 5 (bottom); BIB# 714015
English Cameo Glass (1980) illustrated, p. 265, fig. C211; BIB# 20952