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Bottle
Unknown - Enlarge image
Bottle
- Place of origin:
Venice, Italy (made)
- Date:
late 17th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Mould-blown calcedonio glass, aventurine, with gilt copper mounts
- Credit Line:
Wilfred Buckley Collection
- Museum number:
C.207-1936
- Gallery location:
Glass, room 131, case 9, shelf 3
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. This bottle is a later example from the late 17th century. An innovation of that period was the inclusion of gold-coloured spots in various sizes. These were created by adding copper powder to the molten glass. As their final appearance was very much dependant on chance or accident (avventura in Italian), glass with such inclusions was called 'aventurine'.
