RARE GLASSWARE

Evening Star, Issue 25894, 11 September 1946, Page 6

RARE GLASSWARE

COLOURFUL AND DAINTY PIECES RECENT MUSEUM ACCESSIONS Venetian and eighteenth and nineteenth century European glassware, including some rare examples of the craftsman’s art at the best, have been placed on display in the Otago Museum. The bulk of the. - new material was left to the Museum by the late Mr Willi Fels, and has beendisplayed to advantage in glass cpes in'the upper gallery of the Fels wing. The amazing technical dexterity of Venetian glass workers is demonstrated in a small but exclusive collection of goblets and beakers. A dragon mounted on a miniature' ewer of fanciful shape and colour, a. light green beaker with decorations in applied! glass, a double-handed cup of pearly glass with decorations in a lavender tint, and wine glasses with delicately-elongated stems .are among the most attractive pieces Of this section. '

Coloured - painted . glassware of the seventeenth and eighteenth century forms another section, the most notable piece being a beaker bearing the arms of the 1 House of Brunswick and dated 1635. The more common pieces include items showing a Ger-

man huntsman pledging a glass of wine, and a Spanish wine bottle with an opaque white ground- Large wine glasses decorated with engravings, a group of Tyrolean wine bottles in various colours, and a ruby red beaker witb a panel of an etched engraving are among the other pieces. FINE WEDGWOOD. A fine collection of Wedgwood of about' 150 years ago, when the factory was attempting to revive the classical motifs, was also left by Mr Fels to the Museum. To those interested in this form of art, the collection might he the most interesting exhibit at present on display in the gallery. Among other famous modellers employed by Wedgwood was Flaxman, and some of the latter’s best-known work is included in the exhibition. Not only are there ornaments for the polite drawing room of about 1800. but ordinary tableware. One of the most attrac-tive-pieces is a bellpull, but parasol handles were not neglected by Wedgwood ; nor were scent bottles and sugar spoons A prize item of the Wedgwood collection is the of 'plaques. The smallest pieces, which include seals, rings, and watch tabs, have been arranged with meticulous care by Mr Fels on display panels. The subjects of the plaques are classical, and the most minute and elaborate skill is shown in their treatment. Larger in scale are likenesses in plaque form of historical characters, including Captain Cook, Lord Nelson,_ and Lord St. Vincent. It is interesting to see the products of 150 years ago of a firm which still holds a foremost .place among the producers of British ceramics. JAPANESE EXHIBITS. Japanese material has now been replaced on display in the same gallery, and new pieces donated by Mrs Joseph Mellor and the late Mr Fels have been included. Two suits of Japanese armour of a century ago have been remounted on figures prepared by Mr Colin Macan, and the fearsome samauri that entertained children of 10 or 20 years ago are again standing in picturesque dignity to delight the children of another generation,