Beaker thumbnail 1
Beaker thumbnail 2
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images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Beaker

1582 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Germany (made)

Mount: silver foot early 20th century. FACON DE VENISE

Object details

Categories
Glass
Drinking
Object type
Beaker
Materials and techniques
Diamond-engraved glass with silver foot
Brief description
Beaker (stangenglas) with silver replacement foot, diamond-point engraved with inscription 'William Smith' and '30 Maie 1582' probably Southern Germany, dated 1582
Physical description
Mount: silver foot early 20th century. FACON DE VENISE
Dimensions
  • Height: 17.0cm
  • Maximum width: 7.0cm
conversion size only
Style
European
Marks and inscriptions
'William Smith' and '30 Maie 1582' inscribed (decoration)
Object history
Acquired from Mr. S.A. Bond, Penzance. The foot was missing at the time of acquisition.
Production
Attributed by Bernard Rackham to Verzelini in 1928, this was dismissed by Wilfred Buckley as being false. The glass is now believed to be of South German origin. Tony North 16-12-1992: mount 1900-1910
The glass is decorated with the arms of Smith of Dedhaugh, Cheshire, and of Altensteig of Nuremberg. William Smith (c. 1550–1618), herald and playwright, was born in Oldhaugh, Cheshire. He moved to Nuremberg, Germany where, in about 1580 he married Veronica Altensteig, daughter of Francis Altensteig of Nuremberg
Subject depicted
Coat of Arms
Bibliographic references
  • Bernard Rackham, 'An Early Diamond - Engraved Glass at South Kensington' The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 54, No. 311 (Feb., 1929), pp. 68-69+73
  • Burlington Magazine March 1929, published letter by Wilfred Buckley responding to Rackham's article of the previous month
  • Wilfred Buckley, Diamond engraved glasses of the sixteenth century, London 1929, pp. 15, 21-24, Plate 32, our glass illustrated and discussed and attributed to Germany.
Other number
8474 - Glass gallery number
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.460-1928

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O4905/beaker-unknown/
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