scent bottle

Object NameCameo Scent Bottle with Tapestry Decoration

Manufacturer Thomas Webb and Sons (f. 1837)

Manufacturer(gold) Tiffany and Company (1837-present)

Made FromGlass, 14 Karat Gold, Cork

Dateabout 1880-1900

Place MadeEngland, Amblecote

TechniqueCased, blown, carved, assembled

SizeOverall H: 16.9 cm, W: 3.6 cm, D: 3 cm

Accession Number2016.2.17

Credit LineGift of the Ennion Society

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

On ViewEuropean Gallery

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

The delicate tapestry pattern comes from five layers of glass that the engraver carefully carved away to reveal each underlying color.

Physical DescriptionCameo Scent Bottle with Tapestry Decoration. Orangish red, colorless, and white glasses, 14 karat gold; cased, blown, carved, assembled. Flattened elongated teardrop-shaped ("lie down") scent bottle with five layers of glass: base white overlaid with orangish red and white with layers of colorless glass between. Each side of bottle decorated with a single white multi-pointed floral bloom with hanging circular medallion flanked on top and bottom with vegetal sprays; interior of medallion decorated with carved lattice and dots. Four white trefoil shapes cascade down from neck of bottle; tips of two trefoils overlap floral bloom. Elongated white vertical lobe decoration around base of bottle. Raised white decoration is set atop a background of orangish red glass layered over white glass. The orangish red glass is cut in an ornamental tapestry pattern consisting of line-filled triangles and circles; the thin orangish red layer remaining beneath the carved decoration appears yellow atop the layer of white glass beneath. 14 karat gold collar with hinged flattened globular cap inscribed with the letter "M". Cork fixed within cap.
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.