Goblet with Four Continents

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Goblet with Four Continents

Place of OriginNorthern Bohemia

Dateabout 1720

DimensionsH (with cover): 12 1/2 in. (31.7 cm); H (without cover): 7 7/16 in. (21.4 cm); Diam (with cover): 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm); Base Diam: 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm)

MediumColorless potash-lime glass; blown, applied, wheel-engraved, cut, polished, painted with polychrome transparent paint, assembled

ClassificationGlass

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

Object number

1950.15A-B

On View

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

Collections

Glass

Published ReferencesPage, Jutta-Annette, The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, 2006, p. 111-112, repr. (col.) p. 113, (det.) p. 111.Label TextThis goblet belongs to a small group of six surviving glasses with inlaid glass medallions decorated in the Zwischengoldglas technique. Such elaborately embellished glasses were luxury commodities and could only be afforded by an exclusive clientele. Their fragile and delicate decoration was prone to deterioration through exposure to moisture, which hardly made them suitable for regular use at table and accounts for their rarity today. The four figures depict allegorical rulers and represent the Four Continents, or the traditional Four Parts of the World: Europe, Asia, Africa, and the “New World.” Can you identify which figure symbolizes which continent? (Look carefully at the animals, the clothing, the backgrounds, and other objects for clues. For example, a volcano and a jaguar accompany the figure representing the Americas).