Muses

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Object Name: 
Cameo Vase
Title: 
Muses
Maker(s): 
Place Made: 
England, Amblecote
Accession Number: 
89.2.12
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 19.8 cm, Diam: 10.8 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1885
Credit Line: 
Gift of Juliette K. Rakow in memory of Leonard S. Rakow
Web Description: 
The Muses is decorated with five standing figures, more than are shown on any other Woodall composition apart from Moorish Bathers (see 92.2.10). These figures are five of the nine Muses: Euterpe (the Muse of the flute and lyric poetry), Erato (the Muse of love poetry), Terpsichore (the Muse of dancing and choral song), Clio (the Muse of history), and Thalia (the Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry). The designer (perhaps George Woodall) made a complete hash of the iconography. Euterpe is shown with a lyre instead of flutes, Thalia has flutes instead of a comic mask, and Clio holds a lyre instead of a scroll. (see George and Thomas Woodall, 92.2.10, and cameo glass in Stourbridge (89.2.11).

More Info

Department: 
Modern
Provenance: 
Rakow Estate, Juliette K. (Mrs. Leonard S.) (d. 1992), Source
1989-06-07
Color: 
Opaque white, amethyst
Technique: 
Blown, Overlaid, Etched, Cameo-carved
etching
Inscription: 
T & G WOODALL. DES & SCULPS
Inscription
THOMA WEBB & SONS / GEM / CAMEO
Inscription
TERPISICHORE
Mark
EUTERPE
Mark
CLIO
Mark
THALIA
Mark
ERATO
Mark

Description

Primary Description: 
Opaque white, amethyst lead glasses; blown, overlaid, etched, cameo-carved. Tall, ovoid shape; with flared rim and waisted neck; white overlay on amethyst; the white carved to create a stylized border of foliage and flowers on the neck; sides with five full-length female figures, one playing pipes identified as "THALIA," another with a lyre identified as "CLIO," another with billowing dress identified as "TERPSICHORE," another holding a head in one hand, a spear in the other, identified as "ERATO," and the fifth with a harp identified as "EUTERPE"; figures separated by pendant foliage and growing plants; the identities of the Muses in a band below the figures; acanthus leaves and stylized foliage border below; foot rim ground flat, with acid-etched inscription "- T & G WOODALL. DES & SCULPS."; ground concave pontil mark, with acid-etched inscription " THOMAS WEBB & SONS" in an arc, above "GEM / CAMEO."

Exhibitions (2)

Woodall Cameo Millenium
Venue(s)
Broadfield House Glass Museum 2000-05-08 through 2001-01-30
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.
 

Publications (11)

5000 years of glass (2012) illustrated, p. 197, #252; BIB# 133950
The Cameo Glass of Thomas and George Woodall (2000) p. 72; BIB# 64626
English Cameo Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass (1994) illustrated, pp. 42-43, 62, fig. 39; BIB# 35913
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 1989 (1990) illustrated, pp. 5, 14; BIB# AI96380
Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking (1982) illustrated, pp. 75, 114-115, #67; BIB# 30609
English Cameo Glass (1980) pp. 98, 194, 312, fig. 62; BIB# 20952
Nineteenth Century Cameo Glass (1956) p. 86; BIB# 27784
From Broad-Glass to Cut Crystal, a history of the Stourbridge glass industry (1956) p. 142a; BIB# 27576
English 19th Century Cameo Glass (1951) p. 199, fig. 6;
Title Unknown (Country Life) (1951) p. 199, fig. 6;
Title Unknown (JSGT) (1949) p. 109, fig. 11;