This is the first of several posts on our visit to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. This is one of our favorite museums. We came back to NY again primarily to see this museum again. (Here is a link to our Blog Post about our first visit if you are interested in seeing even more.) We find glass so interesting. There are so many different artistic styles expressed in glass. Plus there are so many practical applications of glass.
The photos in this posting show examples from the "History" section of the museum. There are items on display dating back to the beginning of glass making around 2000 BC through the late 1990's. We could spend days in this section if we looked at every item and read every description. Here are a few of my favorites: (I say a few because I took over 600 photos over two days. I am showing several photos, but this is just the "tip of the iceberg".
A very rare portrait of an Egyptian Pharaoh, probably Amenhotep II, who ruled about 60 years before Tutankhamen. Made about 1400 BC. It is about 2 inches tall.
Another very rare piece - a complete Egyptian figure dating from about 300 - 100 BC. About 9 inches high.
The Romans invented/discovered glass blowing and figured out to make glass items in large quantities. This made glass items available for more everyday use. Prior to this glass items were only made for royalty and the very rich. These jars date from 50 - 200 AD.
This body of this "Head Flask" was blown into a two part mold. Then molten glass was attached to the neck and drawn down to the head to form the handle. Dates from about 350 - 400 AD. (Once belonged to the celebrated operatic tenor Enrico Caruso.) About 7 inches high.
Jumping ahead in time, this is an "Armorial Panel" of painted glass about 15 inches high made about 1560 AD in Switzerland. It was likely displayed in a home and included the family coat of arms.
St. Peter's Square.
What appears to be a water color painting is actually a "micromosaic" made of thousands of tiny pieces of glass glued to a panel. Made in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop about 1879. About 20" high by 30" wide.
Hyalith Jug made in about 1820 in Bohemia (Czech Republic) About 9" high.
Cut glass copy of the Liberty Bell. Made in 1905 for the "Lewis and Clark Exhibition" in Portland, Oregon by the HC Fry Glass Company. It must have been very difficult to make. It is about 18" high and weighs 30 lbs. To cut glass, the craftsman holds and rotates the glass piece against a cutting wheel. He must have been very strong to hold this piece up for as long as it must have taken to cut this intricate design.
Stained Glass Window by Louis Comfort Tiffany made in 1905 showing a Hudson River landscape. About 14 feet high.
A modern "one-of-a-kind" Studio Glass piece. (I forgot to take a photo of the details about the artist and date created.)
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