DOI Heft:
Nr. 342 (November 1925)
DOI Artikel:Pennington, Jo: Pleasantries in glass
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19986#0117
VENETIAN GLASS VASES OF THE SEVENTEENTH OR EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum
"PLEASANTRIES IN CJLASS
"(J7—'he Muranese," said In neither ancient nor mod- were brittle pleasantries to
J Louis XIII's chaplain, ern times has VenetiangtaSS be shattered by royal indif-
"hadtheideaof amus- ^ surpassea> [n fyeauty or ference. When the Emperor
mg us while we drink our technical erfection Frederick IV visited Venice,
wine, and of filling Europe ^ UlCa pe je ion the Doge offered him a glass
with thousands upon thou- J Q E N N I N GTO N vase but tne emPeror let it
sands of pleasantries in fall negligently from his fin-
glass." The Muranese were the makers of what gers and remarked that in one respect, at least,
we call Venetian glass. They lived and worked glass was inferior to gold and silver: in its fragility,
on the little island of Murano very near to Venice The Doge saw the point and replaced it with a
—so near in fact that their little pleasantries were more valuable vase of the kind suggested by his
honored with the name of the great Republic; so guest, but he probably sneered to himself at the
near that the great Republic could watch over sordid taste of his avaricious visitor,
them and guard jealously the secrets of manufac- Somewhat later the beauty of Venetian glass
ture which made Venetian glass the most valuable was again a source of humiliation to a diplomat,
in the world. But not all Muranese glass is whim- though in quite a different way. In 1615 when Sir
sical. Much of it is tender in color, rich in orna- Thomas Roe went as ambassador from the court
ment and exquisite in form; and it was so highly of James I of England to that of the Great Mogul
prized even in the days in which it was made that of India, Jehangir, he took with him many beau-
it was a gift one need not be ashamed of offering tiful gifts from his royal master. He had no
to a prince. thought that his offerings might be unworthy of
One prince, it must be admitted, did not take the Great Mogul until the ambassador from
his gift of a Venetian glass vase very seriously. Persia presented Sir Thomas with "seven mirrors
To him the creations of the workmen of Murano of Venice, so fair and beautiful that my heart sank
NOVEMBER I 9 2 j
one seventeen
"PLEASANTRIES IN CJLASS
"(J7—'he Muranese," said In neither ancient nor mod- were brittle pleasantries to
J Louis XIII's chaplain, ern times has VenetiangtaSS be shattered by royal indif-
"hadtheideaof amus- ^ surpassea> [n fyeauty or ference. When the Emperor
mg us while we drink our technical erfection Frederick IV visited Venice,
wine, and of filling Europe ^ UlCa pe je ion the Doge offered him a glass
with thousands upon thou- J Q E N N I N GTO N vase but tne emPeror let it
sands of pleasantries in fall negligently from his fin-
glass." The Muranese were the makers of what gers and remarked that in one respect, at least,
we call Venetian glass. They lived and worked glass was inferior to gold and silver: in its fragility,
on the little island of Murano very near to Venice The Doge saw the point and replaced it with a
—so near in fact that their little pleasantries were more valuable vase of the kind suggested by his
honored with the name of the great Republic; so guest, but he probably sneered to himself at the
near that the great Republic could watch over sordid taste of his avaricious visitor,
them and guard jealously the secrets of manufac- Somewhat later the beauty of Venetian glass
ture which made Venetian glass the most valuable was again a source of humiliation to a diplomat,
in the world. But not all Muranese glass is whim- though in quite a different way. In 1615 when Sir
sical. Much of it is tender in color, rich in orna- Thomas Roe went as ambassador from the court
ment and exquisite in form; and it was so highly of James I of England to that of the Great Mogul
prized even in the days in which it was made that of India, Jehangir, he took with him many beau-
it was a gift one need not be ashamed of offering tiful gifts from his royal master. He had no
to a prince. thought that his offerings might be unworthy of
One prince, it must be admitted, did not take the Great Mogul until the ambassador from
his gift of a Venetian glass vase very seriously. Persia presented Sir Thomas with "seven mirrors
To him the creations of the workmen of Murano of Venice, so fair and beautiful that my heart sank
NOVEMBER I 9 2 j
one seventeen