![Beaker with Two Men LACMA M](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Beaker_with_Two_Men_LACMA_M.82.124.50_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Engraved glass is a type of decorated
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an
engraving burin. It is a subgroup of
glass art
Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glas ...
, which refers to all artistic glass, much of it made by "hot" techniques such as moulding and blowing melting glass, and with other "cold" techniques such as
glass etching
Glass etching, or "French embossing", is a popular technique developed during the mid-1800s that is still widely used in both residential and commercial spaces today. Glass etching comprises the techniques of creating art on the surface of glass ...
which uses acidic, caustic, or abrasive substances to achieve artistic effects, and
cut glass
Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...
, which is cut with an abrasive wheel, but more deeply than in engraved glass, where the engraving normally only cuts deeply enough into the surface to leave a mark. Usually the engraved surface is left "frosted" so a difference is visible, while in cut glass the cut surface is polished to restore transparency. Some pieces may combine two or more techniques.
![Charles Frederick Ulrich - The Glass Engraver](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Charles_Frederick_Ulrich_-_The_Glass_Engraver.jpg)
There are several different techniques of glass engraving. It has been practised since ancient times, including
Roman glass
Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman empire, Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman g ...
, and professionally engraved glass has always been an expensive luxury, requiring lavish amounts of labour by a highly skilled craftsman or artist. In recent centuries the most notable periods and places of production started in the 16th century, initially mostly in
Venetian glass
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
, then later in Germany and
Bohemian glass
Bohemian glass, also referred to as Bohemia crystal, is glass produced in the regions of Bohemia and Silesia, now parts of the Czech Republic. It has a centuries long history of being internationally recognised for its high quality, craftsmanship, ...
. From about 1645 it was used in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, which was producing the finest engraving by 1700, by which time some engraving was used in most glass-making centres in Europe. The late 17th and early 18th centuries were in some ways the peak period of achievement and popularity. From 1730 onwards it received some competition from the new geometric cut glass style developed in England. These related techniques were often combined in a single piece, but the engraving tended to be relegated to less prominent positions.
In the 19th century cut glass continued to dominate, and new techniques of
etched glass
Glass etching, or "French embossing", is a popular technique developed during the mid-1800s that is still widely used in both residential and commercial spaces today. Glass etching comprises the techniques of creating art on the surface of glass ...
, cheaper than engraving, also took some of the role formerly occupied by engraving. By the later part of the century, a whole variety of techniques, many including coloured glass, had developed. Engraved glass retained some niches, and was sometimes used in
art glass
Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with ...
and later
studio glass
Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Though usage varies, the term is properly res ...
, but no longer had its former importance, although there has been a revival in Britain, with many public commissions for large window-size pieces.
Much glass remains in private collections, and many museums do not display much of their holdings, and often do not display them to the best advantage, which is usually against a dark background. Wineglasses were meant to be appreciated by holding in the hand, and when full any distracting engraving on the other side of the glass was not visible, or much less so.
Techniques
![Artigianato tradizionale (molatura) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Artigianato_tradizionale_%28molatura%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Glass
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
has a variety of techniques. It is an
intaglio form, with images and inscriptions cut into the surface of the glass through
abrasion; but if the cutting is other than very shallow, it becomes glass cutting in the usual terminology. Tools for wheel-engraving glass are typically small abrasive wheels and drills (very similar to those for cut glass), with small
lathe
A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...
s often used. Engraving wheels are traditionally made of copper, with a linseed oil and fine
emery powder
Emery, or corundite, is a dark granular rock used to make abrasive powder. It largely consists of corundum ( aluminium oxide), mixed with other minerals such as the iron-bearing spinels, hercynite, and magnetite, and also rutile ( titania). In ...
mixture used as an abrasive. Today stone wheels are often used. However, any sharp point that is hard enough to mark glass may be used, and in the past "diamond-point" engraving has often been used, especially for inscriptions of text. Today this is often called "point engraving", and the tip of the tool is more likely to be
tungsten carbide
Tungsten carbide (chemical formula: WC) is a chemical compound (specifically, a carbide) containing equal parts of tungsten and carbon atoms. In its most basic form, tungsten carbide is a fine gray powder, but it can be pressed and formed into ...
than diamond. Such engraving might be added to a glass (or window) at any point after the glass was made, and consequently can be hard to date.
Another form of engraving is "
stipple
Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists.
Art
In printmaking, stipple engraving is ...
" in which the image is created by a large number of small dots or short lines on the surface of the glass with the use of small diamond-tipped tools. The scratches and small dots made in this method can, in the hands of a skilled artist, be used to produce images of astonishing clarity and detail. A mixture of diamond-point, wheel-engraving and stipple can all be used in the same piece, though most pieces use one of them for most or all of the work. Typically the design, or at least the main outlines, are marked on the glass before engraving begins.
Sandblasting
Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...
is another technique used in glass engraving. Abrasive is sprayed through a sandblasting gun onto glass which is masked up by a piece of stencil in order to produce inscriptions or images. This is often used for engraving large areas such as windows, and the result is often similar to that achieved by
glass etching
Glass etching, or "French embossing", is a popular technique developed during the mid-1800s that is still widely used in both residential and commercial spaces today. Glass etching comprises the techniques of creating art on the surface of glass ...
using acid.
The engraver might be employed by the glassmaker, or completely independent, buying
glass blank
A glass blank is a piece of glass that requires additional decoration before it is considered finished. Types of decoration include cutting, engraving, acid-etching, gilding, and enameling. Often the term blank is used in reference to an uncut pie ...
s or finished glasses and other pieces to work on. This seems to go as far back as Roman times. Modern
laser engraving
Laser engraving is the practice of using lasers to engrave an object. Laser marking, on the other hand, is a broader category of methods to leave marks on an object, which in some cases, also includes color change due to chemical/molecular alte ...
on glass is another technique, generally only used for decorative purposes mechanically, for example to reproduce images on mirrors.
;Details showing the different techniques
File:Bokaal Kelkglas met een voorstelling op de Vrede van Rijswijk, BK-NM-3065 (cropped) (cropped).jpg, Dutch glass with diamond-point engraving, 1697
File:Kelkglas, gelegenheidsglas, gegraveerd met voorstelling van zieke man, notaris en “NEC TEMERE NEC TIMIDE”, objectnr 83213(1) (cropped).JPG, Wheel-engraved businessman, Dutch engraving on English glass, 1735–50
File:Wijnglas met de Vriendschap Kelkglas met een voorstelling van de Vriendschap, BK-NM-724 (cropped).jpg, Stipple engraved Dutch glass inscribed "Friendship". Attributed to David Wolff, late 18th century
History
![Goblet with Incised Designs MET h1 65](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Goblet_with_Incised_Designs_MET_h1_65.173.1.jpg)
To the 16th century
Engraving on
Roman glass
Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman empire, Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman g ...
was mostly of ornamental patterns, but some figurative images were made, apparently from the 2nd century AD onwards, more often on bowls or plates than cups. Some of these are rather complex. These included both pagan and Judeo-Christian religious subjects. Fragments have been found from
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
There was some engraved early
Islamic glass
The influence of the Islamic world to the history of glass is reflected by its distribution around the world, from Europe to China, and from Russia to East Africa. Islamic glass developed a unique expression that was characterized by the introdu ...
, but as with the Romans, deep cutting (often called carving) was rather more important. Medieval
Venetian glass
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
also used engraving for ornament, but it was generally subordinate to elaborate "hot work" effects, and work in
enamelled glass
Enamelled glass or painted glass is glass which has been decorated with vitreous enamel (powdered glass, usually mixed with a binder) and then fired to fuse the glasses. It can produce brilliant and long-lasting colours, and be translucent or o ...
. Most Venetian glass aimed at extreme thinness and delicacy, making it risky to attempt engraving, which was only done lightly with a diamond point. This taste continued through the Renaissance and wheel-engraving was in fact not used in Venice until the eighteenth century, much later than elsewhere.
Renaissance
Diamond-point engraved glass, probably mostly Venetian-made, though possibly engraved later and elsewhere, became gradually more common from about 1530. Some seems to have been made in
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
, where Venetian glassmakers from
Murano
Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was on ...
were allowed to work for a time under an agreement between the
Venetian Republic
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
and
Archduke Ferdinand II. As was the case at least until the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
,
coats of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...
were the centre of many decorative schemes, including several pieces with the arms of the Medici
Pope Pius IV
Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
(r. 1559–65). The cargo of a ship wrecked off the coast of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
in 1583, on its way to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, included engraved and other types of glass, fragments of which have been recovered after the wreck was rediscovered in 1967.
From the 16th to the 18th century there was also a good deal of amateur engraving of glass, much of it just inscribing a name, but some with images. This period coincided with the development in
gem-cutting
Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...
of the modern facet-cut diamond, making the essential diamond-point tool readily to hand for many of the wealthy. Windows were also subject to this treatment. There is rarely any difficulty in distinguishing even the best amateur work from that by professional workshops.
![Wineglass MET 264474 1975](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Wineglass_MET_264474_1975.1.1141.jpg)
By the later 16th century the efforts of the Venetian Republic to hold on to its virtual monopoly in the production of luxury glass, mainly by keeping skilled workers in the republic, were beginning to fail. Other countries, often led by their monarchs, were keen to have their own fine glass industries, and tempted skilled workers away. This led to a diffusion of the Venetian style to many centres around Europe. The glass made in this movement is called "
façon de Venise
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
" ("Venetian style"); the quality is typically rather lower than the Venetian originals, partly from difficulties sourcing the right materials, and the place of manufacture is often hard to discern. Engraved glass was a part of this diffusion, and initially was especially developed in Germany.
In England Jacob Verzelini, a Venetian glassmaker already working in London, was granted a monopoly for 21 years in 1574 over Venetian-style vessel glass. His workshop developed a style with a large amount of simple but attractive engraving, much of it floral, and with the shapes filled in with parallel lines throughout. The engraver seems to have been Anthony de Lysle, a Frenchman.
It was the Germans who first revived the wheel-engraving of glass; it had remained in use for
hardstone carving
Hardstone carving is a general term in art history and archaeology for the artistic carving of predominantly semi-precious stones (but also of gemstones), such as jade, rock crystal (clear quartz), agate, onyx, jasper, serpentinite, or carnelian, ...
and
engraved gem
An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lu ...
s, which are mostly harder than glass.
Caspar Lehmann Caspar Lehmann ( fl. early 17th century) was a German gem cutter and glass engraver.
In the first decade of the 17th century, Lehmann adapted the techniques of using copper and bronze wheels to engrave gems to engrave glass. Though both intaglio ...
, a gem-cutter perhaps from
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, is usually considered the first to engrave glass this way, after arriving in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in 1588. Prague had the court of
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
, a significant patron of
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, es ...
in several of the arts. The Habsburg court moved to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
after Rudolf's death but the Bohemian glass industry continued to grow in strength, reaching a peak of importance in the 18th century.
17th and 18th centuries
Glass engraving continued in Germany, and grew rapidly in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
and Silesia, with outcrops in several other countries. By perhaps 1645 glass engraving spread from Germany to the Netherlands, a great centre of
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
for
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...
and enjoying the huge economic boom of the
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
. Dutch engraving had become the finest in Europe by the end of the century.
Germany and Central Europe
The 17th century saw great technical improvements in glass-making, some of which assisted engravers. In Bohemia
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
was added to the basic
potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. -lime glass, increasing its strength, workability and
refractive index
In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium.
The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or ...
. Glassworks there were often started or promoted by the owners of great estates; the requirement for large amounts of wood for the kilns assisted the clearance of forests for agricultural land. The power to drive the grinding-wheels was typically produced by
water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...
s beside the workshop.
![Clevelandart 1950](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Clevelandart_1950.390_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Caspar Lehmann's pupil
Georg Schwanhardt moved from Prague to his native city of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in 1622, and founded a workshop which lasted over a century, continued by his family and others. Unlike the Bohemian engravers, those in Nuremberg often signed their pieces. The most common shapes made were
goblet
A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.
Re ...
s with covers and
beakers with "bun" feet. The engraved decoration, normally restricted to the bowl and top of the cover, included a wide range of subjects, drawing from, but not exactly copying, contemporary prints. Portraits of rulers, coats of arms, scenes from classical mythology and the Bible, emblems and allegories are all found, and "battle scenes in woodland settings" were a speciality.
Elsewhere in Germany, "patriotic decoration tended to be the norm", and glass engraving tended to be centred on the many princely courts, many of which had a ''Hofkrystalschneider'' or court glass engraver with his workshop working largely to service the court, including making glasses, often engraved with his portrait, for the prince to give as presents. The exact use of the typical covered cup (''pokale'') is not entirely certain; it is unclear how often they were made in sets, and whether they were used often, or reserved for very formal feasts and
toasting.
In Bohemia and
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, which became a centre of glass engraving over the 17th century, engravers made more for general commercial sales. Increasing prosperity and expanded production was bringing engraved glass within the reach of a much wider public, and during the first half of the 18th century the Bohemian industry developed a large network of pedlars, including trainee engravers for part of the year, who sold engraved glass across Europe, the trainees able to offer added inscriptions in diamond point to customers. Through Spain, engraved glass could reach
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
.
The French ''style Régence'', a lighter version of earlier French Baroque, reached Germany and Central Europe after 1710, mostly via
ornament print
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornam ...
s by French designers such as
Jean Bérain the Elder
Jean Berain the Elder (1640 – 24 January 1711) was a draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament, the artistic force in the Royal office of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi where all the designs originated for court spectacle, from fê ...
and
his son, and the German Paul Decker, working in a similar style. The German
strapwork
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...
style known as ''Laub- und bandelwerk'' became common, as it did in porcelain from
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
from about the 1730s, but tended to become over-elaborate.
Netherlands
"Amateur" engraving in diamond point, sometimes a sideline for artists in
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...
, was especially strong in the Netherlands, some of it including fine
calligraphy
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, and with women among the most celebrated artists. The well-off sisters
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
and
Anna Visscher
Anna Roemers Visscher (c. 2 February 1583 – 6 December 1651) was a Dutch people, Dutch artist, poet, and translation, translator.
Biography
Anna Roemers Visscher was the eldest daughter of Amsterdam merchant and poet Roemer Visscher and the s ...
produced work of this type, while
Anna Maria van Schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, and scholar, who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of female education. She was a highly educated woman, who excelled in ...
was another Dutch female intellectual, who was also a trained painter. In the 18th century the tax collector
Frans Greenwood was the first to use the stipple engraving technique to make virtually all of his images, which were mostly figure subjects drawn from prints. In 2002 a wineglass of 1742 signed by Greenwood sold for 44,650 euros at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
.
The German
Jacob Sang, from a glass-making family of
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, was active in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
from 1752 to 1762.
He was one of the most outstanding professionals, making extremely detailed wheel-engraved scenes. Like many Dutch engravers he preferred to use the slightly less brittle "English" type of
lead glass
Lead glass, commonly called crystal, is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by weight) lead(II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically als ...
developed by
George Ravenscroft
George Ravenscroft (1632 – 7 June 1683) was an English businessman in the import/export and glass making trades. He is primarily known for his work in developing clear lead crystal glass (also known as flint glass) in England.
Personal life
L ...
some decades before, though it now appears that this was by his time also being made on the continent, at
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
and elsewhere. By the end of the 18th century, as in some other centres, glass engraving had largely fallen from fashion.
Perhaps the greatest Dutch engraver, David Wolff (1732–1798), came at the end of the period, and worked entirely in stipple. His unusual technique involved tapping his tool with a small hammer to make each mark. His individual marks can usually only be seen under magnification, and his backgrounds are "rather dark and mysterious", so that it seems as if "his subjects have stepped forward into the light". Many works once given to him have now been reattributed to three unknown engravers, perhaps forming a workshop. One fine engraver in the stipple style is known only as "Alius", and another is
Aert Schouman
Aert Schouman or Aart Schouman (4 March 1710 – 5 July 1792) was an 18th-century painter, now better known as a glass engraver, from the Dutch Republic.
Schouman was born in Dordrecht. When 15 years old he served as apprentice to the Dordrec ...
(1710–92), a pupil of Greenwood.
More than elsewhere in Europe, Dutch pieces tend to commemorate a specific occasion, mostly with wheel-engraving. A glass engraved in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
to celebrate the birth of
William V, Prince of Orange
William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...
in 1748, showing an
orange tree
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
with a new shoot, uses an English wineglass made about 30 years earlier. As well as those subjects often found elsewhere, the Dutch often engraved ships, many pieces inscribed for toasting a specific vessel, new business partnerships, and a fairly standard scene of the "mothering chamber" (''kraamkamer'') with a mother in her curtained bed, with or without a newborn child, and an inscription, usually directed firstly at the mother, around the rim above.
;Dutch subject matter on wineglasses
File:Wijnglas met een kraamkamer Kleine bokaal met een kraamkamer en het opschrift HET WELVAAREN VAN DE KRAAMVROUW EN'T KINDIE, BK-KOG-1629 (cropped).jpg, ''Kraamkamer'' scene inscribed "Best wishes to the mother-to-be and baby", wheel-engraved, 1725-1750.
File:Gelegenheidsglas ‘’t Welvaren van Siparipabo’ Kelkglas met het opschrift T WELVAREN VAN SIPARIPABO, NG-2010-133 (cropped).jpg, "Best wishes for Siparipabo", a colonial plantation in Dutch Surinam
Surinam ( nl, Suriname), also unofficially known as Dutch Guiana, was a Dutch plantation colony in the Guianas, bordered by the equally Dutch colony of Berbice to the west, and the French colony of Cayenne to the east. It later bordered Britis ...
, wheel-engraved, 1725-1750.
File:Wineglass MET 69765 (cropped).jpg, Patriotic scene with the Batavian Lion, Cap of Liberty, and putto
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...
with a cornucopia
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
, inscribed " The Batavian Commonwealth", c. 1765, stipple engraving by David Wolff.
File:Kelkglas met gravure van driemaster in aanbouw en stadswapen, objectnr KA 22385 (cropped).tif, Ship portrait, wheel-engraved, with coat of arms on the other side, 1750–1770, perhaps on English glass
England
![Jacobite](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Jacobite_%22Amen%22_glass_MET_DP354264_%28cropped%29.jpg)
English engraving scaled no artistic heights, and the greatest English contribution to glass engraving was Ravenscroft's improved type of lead glass, which was exported and then imitated in at least northern Europe. Initially much of the better engraving was done on English glass sent to the Netherlands to be engraved, or by foreign engravers in England. The finer sorts of English glasses, until the cut glass style arrived in the 1730s, relied heavily for decoration on spirals ("twists") of air held inside the stem. The English invention of the much more deeply cut
cut glass
Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...
style often included engraved ornament, mostly geometrical or floral, in a secondary role, especially near the rim. Later, a band of floral decoration high on the bowl was the most common engraving.
On earlier glass there were many simple inscriptions, some political, as in "
Jacobite glass" inscribed with toasts to the exiled
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...
, or Jacobite emblems, some rather covert. Some surviving examples, especially of the so-called "Amen" type, are probably 19th-century engraving added to 18th-century glasses. The "Amen" glasses have long and fairly standard inscriptions, ending in "Amen", with a crown,
English rose, or simple royal monogram or coat of arms. One example reads (in part):
:Grant us one favour more
:The King for to Restore
:As Thou has done before
:The Familie.
:God Bless The Church I Pray
:God Save The Church I pray
:Pure to Remain
:Against all Heresie
:And Whigs Hypocrisie
:Who Strive Maliciouslie
:Her to Defame.
:God Bless The Subjects all,
:And save both great and small,
:In every Station:
:That will bring home The King
:Who has best Right to Reign
:It is the only Thing
:Can Save The Nation
The Bohemian engraver and forger
Franz Tieze (died 1932), working in Ireland, specialized in the other side of the political divide, prolifically adding
Williamite
A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs.
One ...
engraving to old glass. It was later realized that a very high proportion of Williamite engraving was forged.
The
Beilby family workshop, active in
Newcastle on Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...
between 1757 and 1778 are famous for their
enamelled glass
Enamelled glass or painted glass is glass which has been decorated with vitreous enamel (powdered glass, usually mixed with a binder) and then fired to fuse the glasses. It can produce brilliant and long-lasting colours, and be translucent or o ...
, much of it using only white, so achieving a similar effect to engraving. They have usually been credited with the tall and elegant "Newcastle" glass shape, although in fact many of these were probably made in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
.
19th century
Glass-engraved figurative images as the primary decorative element on a particular object was less common in much of the Western world than before, with Bohemia the main exception. However, enough engraving was used as a secondary technique to keep a large number of trained engravers busy. Apart from light ornament, portraits and landscapes, often hunting scenes were the most popular subjects, and by 1850 "most engravers ... seem to have become stuck in an endless groove of producing stags in landscapes and the like". As the American glass industry developed rapidly in the second half of the century, engraving played its part, initially led by imported experienced engravers.
In the later part of the century various trends enlivened the decoration of glass, some making use of engraving. Victorian
cameo glass
Cameo glass is a luxury form of glass art produced by cameo glass engraving or etching and carving through fused layers of differently colored glass to produce designs, usually with white opaque glass figures and motifs on a dark-colored backgroun ...
used acid etching to create two colours on
cased glass Cased glass is a type of glass. It is similar to flashed glass. However, cased glass is made with thicker glass layers.
See also
* Cameo glass
* Stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Througho ...
or
flash glass, but there was some use of engraving for similar effects, especially in Bohemia and America. The development of
Art Nouveau glass
Art Nouveau glass is fine glass in the Art Nouveau style. Typically the forms are undulating, sinuous and colorful art, usually inspired by natural forms. Pieces are generally larger than drinking glasses, and decorative rather than practical, oth ...
,
art glass
Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with ...
and that of the
Arts and Crafts Movement, with a great emphasis on sculptural form and bright colour, had little place for engraving.
20th century
![Patron saints and flying angels - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Patron_saints_and_flying_angels_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1267754.jpg)
Somewhat unexpectedly, there was a revival of glass engraving in Britain from the mid-1930s. Initially much of it focused on landscape subjects, in a pastoral and slightly Romantic mood whose influences included the painter and printmaker
Samuel Palmer
Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...
(1805–1881), whose early work was being rediscovered. Many used the stipple technique, including the leading figure
Laurence Whistler
Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler (21 January 1912 – 19 December 2000) was a British glass engraver and poet. He was both the first President of the British Guild of Glass Engravers and the first recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Po ...
(1912–2000). Whistler, along with
David Peace
David Peace (born 1967) is an English writer. Best known for his UK-set novels Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002), '' GB84'' (2004), ''The Damned Utd'' (2006), and '' Red or Dead'' (2013), Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novel ...
and
William Wilson are accredited as simultaneously reviving the craft of glass engraving during the 1930s.
Whistler had first engraved on glass in 1934, in true 17th-century-style engraving a
sonnet
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
and floral decoration on a window of a house he was staying at. The innovative style he later developed involved engraving both the inner and outer sides of the glass, giving a sense of depth. From 1955 to the 1980s he made an untypically large set of windows for
St Nicholas' Church, Moreton, in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
.
In America, the
Steuben Glass Works
Steuben Glass is an American art glass manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by Frederick Carder and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the la ...
continued to produce engraved glass, both wheel-engraved and diamond point; this proved to be very compatible with
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style in particular.
Especially after World War II in Britain, there were also a number of larger architectural engravings, often featuring figures nearly as large as life-size, executed on windows or glass screens. These included work by
John Hutton (1906–1978) for the new
Coventry Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...
(completed 1962). Hutton's other commissions for monumental glass included work at
Guildford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...
, the national
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
, and many other sites around Britain and the world. A set of figures of the population of
Roman London
Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...
, completed in 1960 for a now-demolished office block, were relocated to
Bank Underground station. He developed a new technique for large pieces, using an
angle grinder
An angle grinder, also known as a side grinder or disc grinder, is a handheld power tool used for grinding (abrasive cutting) and polishing. Although developed originally as tools for rigid abrasive discs, the availability of an interchangeable ...
.
Anne Dybka (1922–2007), born and trained in England, emigrated to Australia in 1956, and pursued a career there.
Alison Kinnaird (b. 1949) has always been based in Scotland, while
Josephine Harris
Josephine Margaret Harris (16 February 1931 – 28 September 2020) was a British glass engraver and painter.
Early life
Harris was born on 16 February 1931. Her father (Major Percy Harris) was a British Army officer and the family moved frequen ...
(1931–2020) worked in London.
21st century
There are still many glass engravers who are producing bold, dynamic and aesthetically challenging artworks, but glass engravers feel somewhat pushed aside by the
studio glass
Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Though usage varies, the term is properly res ...
movement of recent years, and anxiety about the future of their technique is openly expressed. James Denison-Pender, mostly a stipple engraver, mentioned in an interview that traditional goblets are now very difficult to sell, while the market favours works on flat glass.
The UK Guild of Glass Engravers was founded in 1975, based in London and lists a number of glass artists as members, including
Ronald Pennell
Ronald Pennell is a British artist, engraver, especially in glass engraving, and sculptor.
Early life
Pennell was born and grew up in Birmingham. He received early training at the Moseley School of Art, and subsequently at Birmingham School of ...
. It has an online gallery of members' works with contact details for commissions and classes for people who want to learn about this art. A general exhibition is held every two years, with the most recent ones at the
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...
in Cambridge.
"21st Century Engraved Glass; An exhibition by the Guild of Glass Engravers"
Fitzwilliam Museum; Coleman
See also
* Pepita glass engraving from Mexico
Notes
References
* Battie, David and Cottle, Simon, eds., ''Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Glass'', 1991, Conran Octopus,
*Bonham's
Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought tog ...
,
Fine Glass and British Ceramics
', Sale catalogue for Bonham's, Knightsbridge, London, Wednesday 15 November 2017
*Caron, Beaudoin, “Roman Figure-Engraved Glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art”, ''Metropolitan Museum Journal'', vol. 32, 1997, pp. 19–50
JSTOR
*Coleman
Katharine Coleman MBE: Guild of Glass Engravers Spring Lecture 2015, “ A Future for Glass Engraving”
*"GGE"
"What is glass engraving?"
Guild of Glass Engravers
*Norman, Barbara, ''Engraving and Decorating Glass: Methods and Techniques'', 2012, Dover Publications,
google books
*Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts'', 1975, OUP,
*Van Eck, Pieter C. Ritsema. “Early Wheel-engraving in the Netherlands”, ''Journal of Glass Studies'', vol. 26, 1984, pp. 86–101
JSTOR
{{Glass forming
Glass art
Engraving