Vessel in the form of an animal
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.This highly peculiar zoomorphic vessel, produced by the glass company Thomas Webb & Sons, is likely a one-off prototype. No multiples appear to have been made for retail. Its enameled polychromy and naïve shape depart from the refined, etched and carved cameo glass for which the firm is better known. Was this creature simply too weird, even for the broadly minded collectors of the Aesthetic Movement?
Artwork Details
- Title: Vessel in the form of an animal
- Designer: Christopher Dresser (British, Glasgow, Scotland 1834–1904 Mulhouse)
- Manufacturer: Thomas Webb & Sons (British, founded 1837)
- Date: ca. 1870
- Culture: British, Stourbridge
- Medium: Glass, painted and gilded
- Dimensions: 2.8 lb. (1.3 kg)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Lent by Paul Jeromack
- Object Number: L.2019.32.4a, b
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts