Cup

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The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) (r) is a structured vocabulary for generic concepts related to art and architecture. It was developed by The Getty Research Institute to help research institutions become consistent in the terminology they use.Learn More

Object Name: 
Cup
Place Made: 
Sasanian Empire
Caucasus
possibly Mesopotamia
Accession Number: 
72.1.21
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 7.4 cm, Diam (max): 9.4 cm; Rim Diam: 8.3 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
probably 500-599
Web Description: 
Another example of Sasanian craftsmanship is a small bowl cut with relief bosses. It was probably made in Iran. The surfaces of the bosses are concave. The surrounding glass has been cut back to leave the bosses standing in relief, a process that would have required a great deal of effort. The foot of the bowl has been treated in the same way. Similar objects were among the Sasanian glassware exported to the Far East. At least one example is known from China, and fragments of another were found in a sixth- to seventh-century context on the Japanese island of Okinoshima.

More Info

Department: 
Ancient
Provenance: 
Motamed, Saeed, Source
1972
Category: 
Sasanian
Color: 
purple
brown
Technique: 
cutting
glassblowing
casting
Material: 
glass

Description

Primary Description: 
Transparent light purplish brown glass; probably cast, possibly blown, and cut; hemispherical; rim plain, with rounded and very slightly everted lip; wall curves down and in; foot is solid cylinder. Decorated on wall with two continuous horizontal rows of six cylindrical bosses with concave upper surfaces, made by cutting, grinding and polishing.

Exhibitions (4)

Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World
Venue(s)
American Museum of Natural History 2009-11 through 2010-08
National Museum of Natural Science 2011-06-11 through 2011-09-12
National Museum of Australia 2012-03-31 through 2012-07-29
Palazzo delle Esposizioni 2012-10-27 through 2013-03-24
National Chaing Kai Shek Memorial Hall
Splendeur des Sassanides
Venue(s)
Musees Royaux d' Art et d' Histoire 1993-02-11 through 1993-05-25
 
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
Yokohama Museum of Art 1992-10-12 through 1992-12-13
The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from The Corning Museum of Glass
Venue(s)
IBM Gallery 1989-12-12 through 1990-02-02
National Gallery of Art 1990-12-09 through 1991-04-14
Decorative and utilitarian works from the Corning Museum of Glass, surveying 35 centuries of glass-making technology and stylistic developments from ancient Egyptian, Roman, Islamic, and Asian cultures to contemporary American and European examples. The works were selected by Corning Museum staff members Dwight P. Lanmon, director and curator of European glass; David B. Whitehouse, curator of ancient and Islamic glass; Jane Shadel Spillman, curator of American glass; and Susanne K. Frantz, curator of 20th-century glass.
 

Publications (31)

Ancient and Islamic Glass: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass (2019) illustrated, p. 87;
Zhongguo gu dai bo li qi min = Chinese ancient glass (2018) illustrated, p. 123 (fig. 4-36);
Sasanian Cup (adult) (2011)BIB# 131668
Glass along the Silk Road from 200 BC to AD 1000 (2010) illustrated, p. 108; BIB# 120363
Yi shu bo li he zhuang shi bo li (Artistic Glass and Decorative Glass) (2009) illustrated, p. 253, pl. 15 (fig. 12-19, right); BIB# 166455
Liu li: Nü wa de yi zhen (2008) illustrated, p. 69; BIB# 167237
Flaunting Dominion in Ancient Iran (2007-02-16) illustrated, p. 31;
Glass, Gilding & Grand Design (2007) illustrated, pp. 35, 44, #11; BIB# 103121
Les Perses sassanides (2006) pp. 149-150, #93; BIB# 94091
Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (2005) illustrated, pp. 45-46, #50; BIB# 88262
Director's Letter (2005) illustrated, p. 1, right; BIB# AI65621
The Decanter: An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650 (2004) illustrated, p. 72, pl. 101; BIB# 67221
The Corning Museum of Glass, A Guide to the Collections (2001) (2001) illustrated, p. 45; BIB# 68214
New History of World Art - Western Asia (2000-02) p. 317, ill. #290;
Beauty of Glass (2000) illustrated, p. 95; BIB# 77736
Uncovering treasures in the Empire State (1999) p. 132, fig. 8; BIB# AI43699
Antike Glastopferei (1999) illustrated, pp. 138-139, no. 333; BIB# 63570
Lobmeyr 1823: Helles Glas un klares Licht (1998) illustrated, p. 194; BIB# 58172
Constellations: an alternative galaxy/ glass by Michael Glancy (1995) p. 13; BIB# 36403
All About Glass = Garasu Daihyakka (1993) p. 33; BIB# 36566
The Corning Museum of Glass and the Finger Lakes Region (1993) illustrated, p. 38, third row, right; BIB# 35681
Splendeur des Sassanides: L'Empire Perse Entre Rome et la Chine (224-642) (1993) p. 265, #114; BIB# 44532
Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass (1992) illustrated, p. 28, #19; BIB# 35679
The Survey of Glass in the World (1992) illustrated, (no. 183), p. 91, 289; BIB# 44518
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History From The Corning Museum of Glass (1990) illustrated, pp. 66-67, pl. 25; BIB# 33819
A Short History of Glass (1990 edition) (1990) illustrated, p. 32; p. 33, #26; BIB# 33211
The History of Glass (1989 edition) (1989) illustrated, p. 54; BIB# 150278
The History of Glass (1984 edition) (1984) illustrated, p. 54; BIB# 22683
Steuben Glass: An American Tradition in Crystal (1982 edition) (1982) p. 47; BIB# 21935
A Short History of Glass (1980 edition) (1980) illustrated, p. 33, #25; BIB# 21161
Masterpieces of Glass: A World History from The Corning Museum of Glass (1980) pp. 66-67, pl. 25; BIB# 20953

Multimedia (1)

Sasanian Cup
Video