El Greco to Velazquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III
On ViewEuropean Gallery
Interpretive Notes
This type of vessel has been known in Spain since the 16th century as the confitero, a container for sweets. The inventory of household goods belonging to a woman from Majorca mentions such a glass in 1594. The type is also illustrated in two drawings by Giovanni Maggi in 1604.
Physical DescriptionColorless glass with yellow tinge, some seeds; opaque white lattimo threads; blown, vetro a fili, applied, gilt, diamond-point engraved. Cylindrical bowl with furnace-opened rim and flattened base; attached to hollow blown stem, consisting of a flattened ball knop and a cylindrical part; joined directly to blown, slightly rising foot wit rough pontil mark. Flanged cover with flared rim, tapering into a cylindrical, hollow tip that forms the lower part of the finial; attached to it, a tall capstan. Bowl with three, and cover with one applied, horizontal lattimo threads. Four raspberry prunts on bowl, arranged on opposite sides, one near base, the other below rim; three raspberry prunts on cover, arranged in regular distances on lattimo thread. Two additional prunts on middle of bowl, approximately opposite to each other, with stamped masks. Cover, bowl and foot are diamond-point engraved with ornaments circulating in horizontal registers, comprising two formal foliate bands in the upper register (separated from each other by an engraved double-line), a band of curved and straight flame- like devices in the zone below, a band of foliate scrolls in the next, and winged ovals in the bottom. On foot, alternating S-shaped devices and pointed ovals; on cover, alternating long and short pointed ovals. The base of bowl uneven, probably due to the use of a wet, wooden tool, and with a scar, as if glass had been trimmed off with straight shears. The lattimo trails are applied to, but not marvered into the surface of the glass vessel. Their ends meet each other. Provenance
