Unknown
Bottlecirca 1725-1750

Not on view

No image

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Bottle
Place Made: India, Gujarat, Kathiawar Peninsula
Date Made: circa 1725-1750
Medium: Clear glass mold-blown with enamel and gilding
Dimensions: 5 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (13.34 x 6.35 x 6.67 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Varya and Hans Cohn
Accession Number: M.88.129.203
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Part of a set of (at least) six bottles with matching and individualized decoration of polychrome enamel and gilding (M.88.129.198–.203), the clear glass mold-blown square vessels are joined diagonally at the corners with their seams concealed beneath gilding. Each has a cylindrical neck with a flared mouth. Their unified decorative program consists of figural compositions on opposing sides. Paired and single women are most common, with single men and couples occasionally shown. The present vessel features a bare-breasted woman seated in a tall-backed chair receiving a foot massage from a female attendant, and on the opposite side, two courtly women stand side-by-side. The woman on the viewer’s left carries a flywhisk over her right shoulder, while the woman on the right rests her hand on her companion’s shoulder. Children are sometimes represented. Various animals are also portrayed. The opposing sides of each bottle are embellished with diverse flowering plants with large open blossoms. Each figural or floral study is set against a background of indeterminate flowering bushes or floating floral sprays beneath an arched colonnade that encompasses the bottle. Flowering vine scrolls and borders of interlocking triangular motifs adorn the vessels’ shoulders. Upright laplets encircle the neck.

The distinctive square bottles are traditionally believed to have been inspired by similarly shaped Dutch gin or perfume bottles imported into India. Matching cups were also produced.
Selected Bibliography: Carboni, Stefano and Whitehouse, David. Glass of the Sultans. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.
Markel, Stephen. "Indian and 'Indianate' Glass Vessels in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Journal of Glass Studies 33 (1991): 82-92.
Saldern, Axel von. Glass 500 B.C. to A.D. 1900: The Hans Cohn Collection. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1980.
Desjardins, Tara. Mughal Glass: a History of Glassmaking in India. New Delhi: Roli Books, 2024.

Related Unframed

Unknown
Bottlecirca 1725-1750

Not on view

No image

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Bottle
Place Made: India, Gujarat, Kathiawar Peninsula
Date Made: circa 1725-1750
Medium: Clear glass mold-blown with enamel and gilding
Dimensions: 5 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (13.34 x 6.35 x 6.67 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Varya and Hans Cohn
Accession Number: M.88.129.203
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: Part of a set of (at least) six bottles with matching and individualized decoration of polychrome enamel and gilding (M.88.129.198–.203), the clear glass mold-blown square vessels are joined diagonally at the corners with their seams concealed beneath gilding. Each has a cylindrical neck with a flared mouth. Their unified decorative program consists of figural compositions on opposing sides. Paired and single women are most common, with single men and couples occasionally shown. The present vessel features a bare-breasted woman seated in a tall-backed chair receiving a foot massage from a female attendant, and on the opposite side, two courtly women stand side-by-side. The woman on the viewer’s left carries a flywhisk over her right shoulder, while the woman on the right rests her hand on her companion’s shoulder. Children are sometimes represented. Various animals are also portrayed. The opposing sides of each bottle are embellished with diverse flowering plants with large open blossoms. Each figural or floral study is set against a background of indeterminate flowering bushes or floating floral sprays beneath an arched colonnade that encompasses the bottle. Flowering vine scrolls and borders of interlocking triangular motifs adorn the vessels’ shoulders. Upright laplets encircle the neck.

The distinctive square bottles are traditionally believed to have been inspired by similarly shaped Dutch gin or perfume bottles imported into India. Matching cups were also produced.
Selected Bibliography: Carboni, Stefano and Whitehouse, David. Glass of the Sultans. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.
Markel, Stephen. "Indian and 'Indianate' Glass Vessels in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Journal of Glass Studies 33 (1991): 82-92.
Saldern, Axel von. Glass 500 B.C. to A.D. 1900: The Hans Cohn Collection. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1980.
Desjardins, Tara. Mughal Glass: a History of Glassmaking in India. New Delhi: Roli Books, 2024.