A COLLECTION WITH 3 THRUSTS
ART, HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE
ART
The techniques of coloration, shaping and decoration combine in complex associations which engender the visual and tactile miracle…
Carlo Moretti
Monolith
Clear glass and coloured squares, different coloured blocks of Venetian crystal, hot assembly, some with internal streaks, shaped by cutting, engraved signature ‘Carlo Moretti 1999’ ‘Prova d’artista’.
Italy, 1999
Inv. 3712
Photo: Paul Louis
‘Murrine’ cup and saucer
Mosaic clear glass, elements heat-sealed, inner bottom frosted, blue-green glass patterns. Black strip applied while hot to form the handle. ‘Venini Italia’ engraved on the pontil.
Venini & Co.
Murano, Italy, 1953
Inv. 3857
Photo: Paul Louis
Powders with gloomy, dull hues…
These are the colouring oxides, ready for their baptism of fire. The role of glass is to make them sing: the yellows from sulphur, uranium and silver…, greens from iron and chrome…, reds from gold, copper and selenium…, blues from cobalt and copper…, violet colours from nickel and manganese, etc.
Most of them have been known since the most ancient times.
Is it being useful that makes a thing beautiful, or is it being beautiful that makes it useful?
Over its long life, glass has managed to combine the two aspects without conflict, imbuing everyday accessories with beauty and grace.
‘Oignons de Jemeppe’ bulbous vases
Moulded blown glass. One of a slightly bluish white opal, with blue enamel powders scattered on the base and blue threads rising on the high neck, tooled while hot, neck opened while hot. The other is moulded blown blue opal with decorations applied using blue and burgundy enamel powders, tooled while hot. Blue threads rising towards the neck, opened while hot.
Blue stencilled enamel mark to the bases, ‘VSL’.
Cristalleries du Val Saint-Lambert, Division de Jemeppe.
Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Belgium, circa 1920.
Inv. 3858-3859
Photo: Paul Louis
‘Louis-Ida’ wedding glass (Metternich service water glass)
Semi-crystal glass or blown moulded clear lined old gold glass, etched and wheel-engraved: ‘Louis-Ida 1859’ in a cartouche, bubble inclusion in the stem, hexagonal foot.
Cristalleries du Val Saint-Lambert
Seraing, Belgium, 1859.
Inv. 3853
Photo: Paul Louis
Is light not glass’s best friend?
A solid material which becomes extraordinarily malleable when heated, and with a molecular structure reminiscent of liquids…
A magical material in amulets and crystal balls, and yet one which is so ordinary and taken for granted in our everyday lives…
A diabolical material which the mediaeval Church prohibited from tombs while at the same time exalting it in stained-glass windows to the greater glory of God…
A material which bends to our every whim, making vases, windows, mosaics, threads, lenses and sculptures, but which nevertheless shatters if you mistreat it…
Jan Zoritchak
Sculpture
Clear glass crystal ball with bubble inclusions, having a frosted crack.
Czech Republic, 1978
Inv. 2449
Photo: Paul Louis
‘Vines and snails’ vase
Blown glass, multi-layer vitrification, snails applied while hot, acid-etched.
Signed: ‘DAUM ‡ NANCY’
Cristalleries Daum
Nancy, France, 1904
Inv. 838
Photo: Paul Louis
Glass is like a chameleon which shows off its different appearances…
Some people believe that nothing befits glass better than transparency, especially when relief comes into play…
Chantal Delporte
‘Détachement’ sculpture
Colourless pâte de verre with crystal frits.
Belgium, 2011
Inv. 4308
Photo: Kikirpa
Jean-Claude Novaro
Vase
Thick greenish and amethyst glass in the form of a flattened bowl opened while hot; engraved signature on pontil ‘NOVARO J6’.
France, 1978
Inv. 2460
Photo: Paul Louis
Perhaps a cold material… but one which is shot through with intense life!