Sweetmeat Dish

Like exhibit "Footed Beaker with cover" this is an example of a cut glass that surpasses earlier styles in terms of the quality of execution. A prerequisite for this development was that experience gained in cutting and grinding gemstone vessels – for example from rock crystal – during the 16th century, was transferred to the processing of glass vessels. This applies above all to the possibility of incorporating fine motifs into surfaces by means of intaglio engraving or relief carving. While in the 17th century the leading glass cutters worked in Nuremberg, around 1700 the primacy went to Bohemia and then to Silesia. Between about 1725 and 1750 Silesia held the leading position in artistic cut glass.

This sweetmeat dish was probably created in the Hirschberger Tal, just like the footed beaker with cover. The design is evidence of the highest mastery of glass engraving, using a combination of intaglio engraving and relief carving. On the base and rim of the foot and on the stem, there are ground and brightly polished sections. The bowl is oval in cross-section and has raised palmettes on three sides, also polished. The cup is largely covered with wheel engraving, which is mainly left matt; detailed ornaments and motifs cover the smooth walls as well as the palmette leaves, ranging from foliate scrolls and ribbon-work to scalloped or dotted ornaments and miniature landscapes. On the one narrow side of the cup is a hitherto uninterpreted coat of arms with a crest and the initials R H G V D. The curved edge of the bowl is cut and polished; the form follows the outline of the palmette scroll.