Images(2)

Aphrodite

Object NamePlaque and Wooden Case

Carver John Northwood II (English, 1870-1960)

Made FromGlass, Wood

Dateabout 1906

Place MadeEngland, Wordsley

TechniqueBlown, Cased, Acid-dipped, Carved, Ground, Polished

SizeOverall H: 3.5 cm, Diam (max): 38.7 cm

Accession Number93.2.1

Credit LineGift of Leo, Ruth, Alan Kaplan and Susan Kaplan Jacobson

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

Exhibitions

Cameo Glass: Masterpieces from 2000 Years of Glassmaking

On ViewThe Jerome and Lucille Strauss Study Gallery

Physical DescriptionOpaque white (opal) over colorless on transparent deep red glass; blown, cased (twice), acid-dipped, carved, ground, and polished. Plaque: circular. Rim rounded; side tapers to narrow, flat base defined by shallow groove. Decorated with a figured scene showing, at center, the goddess Aphrodite who, according to Greek mythology, was born by rising naked from the sea, then rode to land on a scallop shell. She is surrounded by attendants. Eros flies behind her brandishing a bow and arrow. The figures in front of her are cupids riding on dolphins, those on our left are a sea nymph and a hippocamp (a mythical creature with the head and forequarters of a horse and the tail of a dolphin), and those on our right are another sea nymph and a triton. Behind the goddess's shell is a second triton blowing on a conch-shell. (Tritons are demigods with the head and torso of a man and a fish's tail.)
Provenance

Source Alan Kaplan - 1993-04-22

Source Leo Kaplan (d. 2013) - 1993-04-22

Source Ruth Kaplan - 1993-04-22

Source Susan Kaplan Jacobson - 1993-04-22

Former Collection Kenneth Northwood

Former Collection Dr. Leonard S. Rakow
Leo, Ruth,Alan Kaplan and Susan Kaplan Jacobson

Former Collection Estate of Juliette K. (Mrs. Leonard S.) Rakow (d. 1992)