jug

The object is an imitation of a Hellenistic or earlier core-formed vessel with trailed decoration that was dragged up and down to create a feather-like effect. Although it is not closely similar to any ancient object, the outside has been treated to give it the appearance of antiquity. Interest in ancient glass increased rapidly in the period between about 1870 and 1910, when the Niessen, Gréau, and Sangiorgi collections were being formed in Europe, and the Moore and Curtis collections in the United States. As well as genuine objects, many forgeries and imitations appeared on the market. In Murano, imitations were produced by Antinio Salviati and by the Compagnia di Venezia e Murano; the first documentd exhibition of such objects appears to have been in Milan in 1881 (L. F. Bolaffo, "Antonio Salviati e la Sua Industria", in Milano -- L'Esposizione Italiana, Milan, 1881). Cf. Sidney M. Goldstein, Pre-Roman and Early Roman Glass, 1979, pp. 292-294, nos. 893-900.