Glass of the Maharajahs - Corning Museum of Glass

piece, which is extremely important to the history
of 18th-century American glass.
We also acquired two very early pieces from
Tiffany Studios, both of which date to the
1890s. In 189 , Tiffany expanded his production
to include vessels, which were displayed
for the first time that year at the World’s Columbian
Exposition in Chicago. One of our
pieces is a Cypriote plaque of iridescent glass
with applied decoration. With a diameter of 17
inches, it would have made a stunning wall
decoration. Tiffany’s Cypriote glass was among
the earliest iridescent glass made in the United
States, although its production in Europe had
begun a decade earlier. As the name implies,
Tiffany intended his Cypriote pieces to resemble
objects from antiquity.
Our second Tiffany acquisition is a vase of
iridescent red glass with peacock feather trailing
and a silver-gilt mount with plique-a-jour
enamel decoration and rubies. It was among
the first objects commissioned by the famous
art dealer and critic Siegfried Bing. The piece
was enameled by Eugène Feuillatre, who had
previously worked for René Lalique, and the
mount is the only one of several made for Tiffany
vases by Edouard Colonna that is known
to have survived. The enamel and rubies harmonize
with the red color of the Tiffany glass.
Two of the most important additions to our
collection of glass lighting are a hurricane lamp
from about 1840–1860 and a parade lantern
made for a fire company in New York City,
which dates from about 1850–1875. Both
were designed for candles rather than for oil.
The lamp has wheel-engraved decoration
and a handsome brass collar, both in a grape
design, and the original shade. The base has
three dolphins, a rare form that has been documented
for lamps of opalescent and yellow
glass, but ours is the only example recorded
in electric blue. Although it is called a lamp,
this object is essentially a candle fitting with
a shade. The piece was purchased with funds
from the Gladys M. and Harry A. Snyder Endowment
Fund and the Gertrude Christman
Melvin Endowment Fund.
The lantern is of stained and engraved glass
in a brass mount. Three sides of this square
object are decorated. One shows a fire wagon
and the word “VIGILANT,” another features
the arms of New York State, and the last presents
a figure holding a banner that is inscribed
“ExCELSIOR.” Both “Vigilant” and “Excelsior”
were used as mottoes by volunteer fire
companies in New York City, and the lantern
was designed to be carried in a parade.
Our cut glass acquisitions included a set
of 11 wineglasses in six different colors. All
of them were cut in the “Venetian” pattern,
which was patented by Corning’s T. G. Hawkes
and Company in 1889. These glasses are in
their original leather case, and it seems likely
that they were made for an exhibition.
11
“F.C.S.A.” tumbler,
blown, tooled, enameled,
gilded. U.S., Frederick,
MD, New Bremen Glassmanufactory
of John
Frederick Amelung, or
Germany, Grünenplan,
1785–1795. H. 9.8 cm
(2006.4.175). Gift of the
L. T. Murray Family in
honor of Lowell Anne
Butson.
Cypriote plaque, blown.
U.S., Corona, NY, Tiffany
Studios, about 1896.
D. 44.7 cm (2006.4.160).