Bottle thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Glass, Room 131

Bottle

1500-1525 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Glass is an ideal material to imitate semi-precious stones, and the ancient Romans were specialists at this. 'Calcedonia' glass was developed on the Venetian island of Murano around 1450. It was called after chalcedony, a naturally occurring hardstone. Details concerning its manufacture were kept secret for many decades. It involves mixing many different colours of glass in layers as well as a special heat treatment during blowing.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Calcedonio glass, with an applied ring below the mouth
Brief description
Bottle, blown calcedonio glass, Italy (Venice), 1500-25
Physical description
Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology
Dimensions
  • Height: 37.5cm
  • Maximum width: 18.5cm
conversion size only
Style
Credit line
Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street
Summary
Glass is an ideal material to imitate semi-precious stones, and the ancient Romans were specialists at this. 'Calcedonia' glass was developed on the Venetian island of Murano around 1450. It was called after chalcedony, a naturally occurring hardstone. Details concerning its manufacture were kept secret for many decades. It involves mixing many different colours of glass in layers as well as a special heat treatment during blowing.
Bibliographic reference
c.f. John A. Brooks, 'Glass', London 1975
Other number
8447 - Glass gallery number
Collection
Accession number
5301-1901

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
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