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The Red Vase, part 2

This is the second in a two-part series. Read The Red Vase, part 1.

Vase (detail), K. & K. Fachschule
fuer Glasindustrie Haida (Designer),
Karl Meltzer & Co. (Manufacturer),
Bohemia, Novy Bor (Haida), 1914-1920.
Gift of Roberta B. Elliott. 2017.3.55.

The story of the red vase continues in America.

Having survived World War II and flight from Europe, Franz Engel settled into a new life in Washington, D.C. Changing his name to Francis Elliott, he was soon married and, four years later, they had a daughter, Roberta. For the next 50 years, the vase remained safe in their home.

A practical woman by nature, Roberta’s mother, Esther, thought the vase was too straight and narrow for displaying flowers and consigned it to the back of a cabinet, where it was largely forgotten. In 2001, when Roberta inherited the cabinet and all its belongings, the vase remained hidden where it was. Her cherished childhood memories of staring at the endless lines in the unique cut glass pattern had all but faded. Read more →

The Corning Museum of Glass Surveys Global Contemporary Glass in Special Exhibition Opening in May 2019

Today The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) announced that 100 artists—representing 32 nationalities and working in 25 countries—have been selected to exhibit in New Glass Now, a global survey of contemporary glass and the first exhibition of its kind organized by the Museum in 40 years. The show, which will be on view from May 12, 2019, through January 5, 2020, will include works ranging from large-scale installations and delicate miniatures to video and experiments in glass chemistry, all of which demonstrate the vitality and versatility of this dynamic material.

Sarah Briland
United States, b. 1980
Problematica (Foam Rock)
United States, Richmond, Virginia, 2016
Foam, Aqua Resin, glass microspheres, steel, concrete stand
With stand: 96.5 x 52 x 45.7 cm
Photo: Terry Brown

In spring 2018, CMoG welcomed submissions of new works, made between 2015 and 2018 in which glass plays a fundamental role, for consideration by a panel comprising Susie J. Silbert, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at CMoG, and three guest curators, including: Aric Chen, curator-at-large, M+ museum, Hong Kong; Susanne Jøker Johnsen, artist and head of exhibitions at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Denmark; and American artist Beth Lipman. More than 1,400 artists, designers and architects working in 52 countries—from Argentina, Australia, Indonesia and Japan to the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond—submitted works, which draw upon flameworking, glassblowing, casting, neon, carving, and kilnworking techniques, among others. Read more →

Rethinking the Origins of Glass

The case known as the “Primary Case” in the Origins of Glassmaking area is one of the first things visitors see when they enter the 35 Centuries of Glass Galleries. We know from visitor tracking studies and anecdotal observation that most guests and tour groups stop and look at this case. It serves as the introduction both to the gallery and to the history of glass.

The Origins of Glassmaking primary case before updates.

When I took over responsibility for the Ancient and Islamic Glass collection at the Corning Museum of Glass in summer 2017, I knew that one of the first things I wanted to do was to update the objects and labels in the Origins Primary Case. This case does a lot of heavy lifting: it introduces the first 15 centuries of glass history, represents almost a dozen ancient cultures, and showcases a wide range of glassworking techniques. Some techniques, like core-forming, were dominant for several centuries but eventually vanished. Others, like mosaic canes, persisted for thousands of years and are still used by contemporary glass artists. As a specialist in Hellenistic glass (the period immediately before the invention of glassblowing), I also wanted to draw attention to this important moment in glass history and its extraordinary products. Read more →

The Red Vase, part 1

As exemplified in Glass of the Architects: Vienna, 1900–1937, a cooperation of the MAK and LE STANZE DEL VETRO, Austrian glass from 1900 to 1937 emerged from a confluence of ideas, individuals, and cultures. Advanced in large part by the support of Jewish patrons, artistic works of this period captured a newfound modern spirit. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht – a horrific night of destruction aimed at Austrian and German Jews – (November 9–10, 1938), effectively signaling the end of this innovative period of artistic production.

This is the story of a vase.

Vase, K. & K. Fachschule
fuer Glasindustrie Haida (Designer),
Karl Meltzer & Co. (Manufacturer),
Bohemia, Novy Bor (Haida), 1914-1920.
Gift of Roberta B. Elliott. 2017.3.55.

Like so many old family heirlooms, this particular vase sat at the back of a china cabinet, unnoticed and hidden from view. For almost 50 years its story went untold. That is, until one strange moment of serendipity led its owner to reawaken her family’s past. A moment that would forever change her own life.

Donated to The Corning Museum of Glass in 2017 by Roberta Elliott, the vase is now on display in the exhibition, Glass of the Architects: Vienna, 1900–1937, a cooperation of the MAK and LE STANZE DEL VETRO.

Before its donation, the vase had been in Roberta’s family for close to a century; it was passed down from her grandmother to her father and finally to Roberta, “bearing witness to an incredible tale of craftsmanship, persecution, and resilience,” says Alexandra Ruggiero, assistant curator of modern glass, and curator of the exhibition at The Corning Museum of Glass. Read more →

The Corning Museum of Glass Surveys Global Contemporary Glass in Special Exhibition Opening in May 2019

Photographing glass, part 3: Lighting techniques for transparent glass objects

This is the third in a series of blog posts addressing photographic lighting techniques for transparent glasses. It builds on the techniques discussed in the first two posts, Photographing glass, part 1 and Photographing glass, part 2.

In the first two posts, I used colorless engraved glasses to demonstrate how we can reveal detail by exploiting the ways glass interacts optically with its surroundings in a carefully controlled lighting environment.

In this third post, I use two different objects without engraving to demonstrate how the same lighting principles can be used to capture more subtle elements like tooling marks and optic ribbing. I also present a few techniques used to define edges and introduce controlled reflections. My goal is to capture details that provide insight into the process of making the objects as well as the properties of the glass itself.

As with the first two posts in this series, all objects are photographed on a translucent white acrylic surface (PlexiGlas 2447 with a P95 matte finish). Read more →

The Studio Announces 2018 Residency Recipients

2018 Artists-In-Residence at The Studio

Anne Vibeke Mou
March 22-April 20; Public lecture April 12

Anne Vibeke Mou, Diamond Window

Originally from Denmark, artist and engraver Anne Vibeke Mou has been studying and working in the United Kingdom for almost 20 years. Her interests lie predominantly in the connections between glass and environment, object and place, and the medieval history of both regions has helped to shape her work in rich and revealing ways.

Mou practices a meticulous stippling process (engraving a surface with numerous small dots) using a handheld solitaire diamond tool. She is excited to access the Rakow Research Library’s resources to further her research into waldglas (forest glass) and historical sites of relevance. During her residency in March and April 2018, Mou will produce a series of delicate objects “containing traces of organic material from carefully chosen locations,” she says.

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