In sparkling company: reflections on glass in the 18th-century British world

Abstract

Britain in the 1700s was complex, dynamic, and full of growth, whether industrial, geographical, intellectual or societal. The nation began the century under the leadership of a Dutch king (William III, r. 1689-1702), followed by a dynasty of Germans (the Hanoverians, r.1714-1837). Its aristocracy was educated on European Grand Tours, and its commercial, political and territorial ambitions stretched from North America to India, and from Africa to China. It was a world that fostered exploration, expansion and exploitation. The British glass industry replaced that of Venice as the global leader during this period but, beyond its presence in dining and drinking rituals, little discussion has hitherto been made of the significance of glass in the lives of the country's elite during the 1700s. In 'Sparkling Company: Reflections on Glass in the 18th-Century British World' accompanies a major exhibition at The Corning Museum of Glass in 2021. From portraiture to costume, and science to slavery, the essays contained in this publication offer unique perspectives from noted scholars on the role of glass in defining and expressing the cultural values of Britain during the 1700s. Exhibition: Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, USA (May 2021 - January 2022).

Contents

Director's foreword / Karol B. Wight -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Christopher L. Maxwell -- People in glass houses: the polished and the polite in Georgian Britain / Christopher L. Maxwell -- Slavery and glass: tropes of "race" and reflection / Kerry Sinanan -- Glass in 18th-century British portraiture / Marcia Pointon -- The British scientific glass enlightenment during the long 18th century / Marvin Bolt -- The glass of fashion / Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell -- "The eye as well as the appetite must be car'd for": glass and dining in Ireland, about 1680-about 1830 / Anna Moran -- L'officier sableur: sand painters as decorators of the 18th century dining table / Melanie Doderer-Winkler -- "A gloss equal to glass": the material brilliance of early American furniture / Jennifer Y. Chuong.