Images(2)

Venus and Cupid

Object NameCameo Plaque

Engraver George Woodall (English, 1850-1925)

Manufacturer Thomas Webb and Sons (f. 1837)

Made FromLead Glass

Dateabout 1908

TechniqueBlown, Etched, Cameo-Carved

SizeOverall Diam: 46 cm

Accession Number65.2.19

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

Exhibitions

The Fragile Art: Extraordinary Objects from The Corning Museum of Glass

Masterpieces of Glass from The Corning Museum of Glass

The Art of Glass: Masterpieces from The Corning Museum of Glass

Treasures from The Corning Museum of Glass

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

The decline of the cameo glass industry may have been due to a failure to keep pace with stylistic changes around the turn of the 20th century. Competing decorative techniques were another factor. One of these techniques, pâte-sur-pâte, was developed in the 1850s at the porcelain factory in Sèvres, France. It consisted of applying relief-like layers of porcelain to the glaze of a dish, and it became particularly fashionable in Art Nouveau porcelain made in Sèvres and Meissen, Germany. With its detailed, classical decoration, the Venus and Cupid plaque seems to be a reaction against the new methods of ornamentation. (see George and Thomas Woodall, 92.2.10, and cameo glass in Stourbridge (89.2.11).

Place Made

England, Stourbridge

Physical DescriptionOpaque white, purple lead glass; blown, etched, and cameo-carved. Low, nearly flat, circular form, with slightly curved sides; opaque white overlay on plum-colored back; cameo-carved scene of a seated woman, clad in a diaphanous dress, with one leg drawn up, seated on a lion-footed bench, with a vase standing alongside; two birds, one flying, one preening its wing in front of her, looking toward a putto, holding a bow and arrow with two arrows on the paving below him, standing on the rim of an elaborate two-tiered fountain, which stands in the middle of a water-filled circular pool; a carved lion on a rectangular plinth in the background, and a fence with oval openings; a statue of a nude male at the left, with a large building with four Corinthian columns beyond; trees, a flying bird, and hills and a lake in the background; elaborate floral and scrollwork border; signed (incised, script) "Geo Woodall" on the rim of the pool, at the right.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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