Images(2)

scent bottle

Object NameCameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Christmas Rose

Engraver/Painter(engraving and painting) probably Fridolin Kretschman (Bohemian, about 1850-1898)

Gilder(gilding) probably Jules Barbe (French, b. 1847)

Manufacturer Thomas Webb and Sons (f. 1837)

Made FromGlass, Silver, Enamel, Gilding

Dateabout 1880-1890

Place MadeEngland, Amblecote

TechniqueCased, blown, carved, painted, enameled, gilded, assembled

SizeOverall H: 7.3 cm, W: 4.9 cm, D: 3.3 cm

Accession Number2016.2.8

Credit LineGift of the Ennion Society

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

On ViewEuropean Gallery

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Talented glass workers from continental Europe flocked to Stourbridge, a remote location in central England, to take part in the cameo boom. Among them were Jules Barbe (French, 1847—unknown) and Fridolin Kretschman (Bohemian, about 1850—1898). Kretschman later immigrated to New York and lived briefly in Corning.

Physical DescriptionCameo Scent Bottle with Swan and Christmas Rose. Transparent red and white glasses, blue, white, green, orange, brown, and yellow paint or enamel, gilding, silver; cased, blown, carved, painted or enameled, gilded, assembled. Flattened globular white on transparent red glass scent bottle. One side of bottle decorated with white swan set between blue flowers and cattails; opposite side of bottle decorated two "Christmas roses"; bluish-green leaves and stems decorate bottom half. Relief layer painted in blues, white, green, orange, brown, and yellow, possibly fired enamel. Background of gilded dots. Silver neck fixed to top of bottle; undecorated globular cap hinged to neck (a modern replacement).
Provenance

Source Susan Kaplan Jacobson - 2016-09-09
Susie Kaplan Jacobson’s collection of cameo bottles began around the age of 10. From her art-dealer parents and other family friends, she received small bottles as presents for her birthday, Hanukkah, and other celebratory occasions during the 1960s and 70s. 2016.2.5, the small round white-on-red bottle, was the first. While Kaplan Jacobson is not certain of the provenance of every bottle, she recalls that one of the Barbe bottles (2016.2.7 or 2016.2.8) came from Ray Grover in Florida, and 2016.2.10 was purchased from an unknown dealer at the New Haven Antiques Show. Searches for “cameo”, “Webb,” and “Woodall” in the Getty Provenance Index databases and on the Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg yielded no matching or likely objects with problematic Nazi-era histories.

Former Collection Raymond Grover
Susan Kaplan Jacobson recalls that one of the Barbe bottles (2016.2.7 or 2016.2.8) came from Ray Grover in Florida