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

Dish

1475-1525 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Shallow dishes on a low foot, made of glass or metalwork were designed to serve food at the dining table. This fine glass example was made in Venice by the famous glass-blowers on the island of Murano. They gave this piece a relief pattern by blowing the glass bubble in a mould, prior to further expanding it and opening it out to become a dish. The decoration in gold leaf and painted enamels was applied after the bowl had been shaped and gradually cooled. After decorating, the bowl went back into the mouth of the furnace, where the enamels would melt and fuse with the glass surface. Once fired, the enamels could not be rubbed off the surface. The moulded pattern and the predominant use of gilding give this dish the appearance of precious metalwork. This dish originally had a foot; at some date it was broken, and consequently ground away.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Mould-blown glass, enamelled and gilt
Brief description
Dish, blown glass with enamelled and gilt decoration, Italy (Venice), 1475-1525
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 26.5cm
conversion size only
Style
Gallery label
This dish originally had a foot, it has since been broken and ground away.
Credit line
Bequeathed by George Salting, Esq.
Object history
From the Spitzer Collection, sale Paris 1893, lot 1981
Production
A similarly moulded dish with the Arms of Louis XII of France and his Queen, Anne of Brittany (1499-1514) in the Toledo Museum of Art. (Art in Glass, Toledo Museum of Art, 1969, p. 47)
Summary
Shallow dishes on a low foot, made of glass or metalwork were designed to serve food at the dining table. This fine glass example was made in Venice by the famous glass-blowers on the island of Murano. They gave this piece a relief pattern by blowing the glass bubble in a mould, prior to further expanding it and opening it out to become a dish. The decoration in gold leaf and painted enamels was applied after the bowl had been shaped and gradually cooled. After decorating, the bowl went back into the mouth of the furnace, where the enamels would melt and fuse with the glass surface. Once fired, the enamels could not be rubbed off the surface. The moulded pattern and the predominant use of gilding give this dish the appearance of precious metalwork. This dish originally had a foot; at some date it was broken, and consequently ground away.
Bibliographic references
  • R.Ps 1910/3052½ M
  • Tait 1979, cat. 14
  • Barovier Mentasti, R. and Tonini, C. Murano, chefs-d'oeuvre de verre de la Renaissance au XXIe siecle. Paris: Gallimard, 2013. p.52
Other number
8364 - Glass gallery number
Collection
Accession number
C.2478-1910

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
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