Terms and conditions of use
Bowl
(c. 1677)
Medium
glass (applied decoration)
Measurements
6.0 × 17.6 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
William and Margaret Morgan Endowment, 1973
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In 1673 the merchant and entrepreneur George Ravenscroft opened the Savoy Glasshouse on the Strand in London, taking out a seven-year patent to produce, in his own words, a ‘perticuler sort of Christaline Glasse resembling rock Christall’. In order to counter the cloudy, crizzling effect of his early glass, Ravenscroft began adding lead oxide to his formula, effectively creating a new material and transforming the British glass industry with his vastly improved type of ‘metal’. The heavy and slow-cooling lead glass admirably suited a simple but elegant style and achieved a glass body of great clarity, with a high refractive index and distinctive appearance.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
England
Inscription
impressed in outside rim above base l.c.: (raven's head)
Accession Number
D153-1973
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Flared sides with 12 ribs, base milled border, underside 12 radiating ribs, seal applied to border.