Footed Beaker with cover

Since antiquity, glass has occasionally been endowed with cut and engraved decoration. From the 17th century onwards, works were created that surpassed all earlier efforts 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.

It is a stroke of luck that this footed beaker has been preserved with the original cover; only in combination does the harmonious overall impression aspired by the glass artist emerge.

The glass itself was probably made in a glassworks in the Hirschberger Valley in Silesia, the decoration in one of the many workshops in this area, possibly at Warmbrunn, a centre for the production of engraved decoration. In the second quarter of the 18th century, dozens of glass cutters worked there, on the one hand for a broad public – for example, for visitors to the Silesian baths – but also for the sovereigns, the Counts Schaffgotsch, in whose territory all the glassworks and glass refinement factories of the Hirschberg valley were located. The glass presented here was probably intended for a member of this family, since attached to the main face of the bowl is the pine tree from the family’s coat of arms and above it the motto of the Schaffgotsch – Aucun temps ne le change.