Covered Pokal

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Covered Pokal

Manufacturer Potsdam or Zechlin Court Glasshouse (German, 1674-1734 (Potsdam) | 1736-1890 (Zechlin))

Place of OriginGermany, Brandenburg

Date1730-1740

DimensionsH: 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm)

MediumColorless potash glass; blown, applied, tooled, cut, and gilded.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2004.44

On View

Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion (2444 Monroe Street), Glass Pavilion Gallery, 4

DescriptionThe thistle-shaped bowl with a gilded rim and gilt-edged band of vertical flutes in raised relief around the base, set on a faceted baluster stem between a gilt knop and plain section, followed by a bell-shaped foot with a frieze of concave fluting edged by gilding. The matching cover echoes the decoration of the foot and stem with a faceted baluster finial between gilt knops.

Label TextIn 1734, the Prussian Elector Frederick William I closed the Potsdam Court Glasshouse near Berlin because of its high consumption of firewood. By 1736 he had moved it to Zechlin in the forest-rich Mark Brandenburg region. The factory flourished because he granted it a monopoly for producing “white” (colorless) glass that was frequently decorated with high-quality gilding, cutting, and engraving. Pokals (presentation goblets) were especially prized by members of the Prussian courts, bestowed as royal gifts, and collected by the wealthy in Prussia and abroad.Published ReferencesFine British and European Ceramics and Glass, Sotheby's, London, 2004, lot.174.

Schmidt, Robert, Das Glas, 1922, p. 328 ff.

Von Strasser, Rudolf, Masterpieces of Germanic Glass, 15th - 19th centuries, Neenah, WI, John Nelson Bergstrom Art Center and Museum, 1979, p. 34, no. 42 (goblet 60.3.68 in Corning Museum of Glass, formerly collection Helfried Krug).

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, New Acquisitions in Glass, Oct. 8 - Dec. 26, 2004.

Glas aus 5 Jahrhunderten. Herbstausstellung 2003, Vienna, Glasgalerie Michael Kovacek, p. 42, no. 22.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Ruckert, Rainer, Die Glassammlung des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums, Munich, 1982, no. 820.