Enfilade

The Corning Museum of Glass’s current exhibition examines cross-cultural currents in glassmaking during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Lee Lawrence’s review for The Wall Street Journal (9 August 2011) is available here». -FG

East Meets West: Cross-Cultural Influences in Glassmaking in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, 18 November 2010 — 30 October 2011

Francesco Vezzi, Bowl with cover, Venice, 1720-1724

East Meets West: Cross-Cultural Influences in Glassmaking in the 18th and 19th Centuries explores influences in glassmaking that resulted from cultural exchange between the East and West, and documents stylistic developments in Western Europe and East Asia during the early modern period.

In Western Europe, the influence of East and South Asian products imported by the English, Dutch, and French East India Companies in the 18th and 19th centuries had a significant impact on style and art. European artists, fascinated by Oriental designs, architecture, and decorative arts, developed a chinoiserie style (characterized by use of Chinese motifs, shapes, and materials) that gained popularity in Europe in the second half of the 17th century.

The allure of the “exotic” and the appeal of materials unknown to the West—such as hard-paste porcelain and lacquer—stimulated the production of glass objects imitating the treasured Eastern imports.
Western scientists did not know porcelain was a clay-based substance
and mistakenly assumed it must be a vitreous one. . . .

Read more here»