A Little ol Driver...So Lively & Quick....

No~ It's Not St. Nick!

  But, being the Christmas season, that is what I am saying to myself when I see this last piece of the glass cake decorations.  What a marvelous achievement ~ there is so much going on! A precious pup has run away and is absent from the left side of the horse, but other than that, the piece is Divine~ all made from glass~ the animals, the tack, the reigns, wheels of the carriage~ even the whip!

The longer ones looks at this piece, the more you cannot help but love and admire it~ from a technical point of view, I cannot make out where the lampworker held the pieces to make them~

Everything here is in motion~ there are no lifeless statues. The dog is running~ with legs fully outstretched.  The horse with mane and tail whipping from the wind and legs at a gallop in front of the driver, who is not sitting but standing in the carriage and seems to be 'mid whip'....they must be on their way to a very important celebration!

 If you look closely, you can see part of the horse's harness connecting to the center front of the carriage~ no details were left out! Its just fantastic and utterly amazing that it is not a broken pile of rubble!  I think it is obvious it is my favorite of them all~

Of Pups & Strawberry's

To again revisit the early collection of lampwork glass cake decorations we acquired earlier this year, I start with one of my favorites~ it will need much work to restore. It was originally on a long glass spike like the cupid arches,  but just the nature of the thing made it impossible to display any way but standing straight up and down (more on that later)~ so to display it, the thick glass rod it was on was snapped off and it was then very sloppily glued to a scrap chunk of wood. They were not careful how they broke off the spike, and left a long tail, so the center was drilled out of the wood for it to fit...but then, it must still not have fit very well, as they used the broken glass rods as props to jet in underneath of it all around, to help keep it up on its hideous base. The whole lot was then absolutely smothered in an animal base glue, that will have to be soaked off slowly. YUK!

  and Oh! The wee pups! There are two sets of dogs in the set~ both pairs are on their own footed bases. I Adore these two ~ their bodies made from pink and white opaque glass, they have little black spots and ears~ just look at the detail around the eyes~ I wonder if they were made to resemble actual living dogs~ right down to their red collars. And just look at those pointy tails~ so delicate, but not as delicate as their wee legs~

This once happy chap, looking to me like an English Spaniel.... has sadly lost  their mate~ one can see bits of the four legs still attached to the base where it once stood. He, or she, is amazing~ an absolute amazing example of early lampworkers art!

And yet, another container of strawberries~ this one in a pink accented pedestal base. The berries each carefully made from red/pink glass and firmly attached within the vase.  But why strawberries???? Why would strawberries excite me and make me think of a wedding? Well~ let me explain.
    In Flowers of the Renaissance by Celia Fisher, (page 149),  The 17th c representation of strawberries was such that  “The white flowers and red fruit stood for purity and for Christ’s redeeming blood. The three parts of a strawberry leaf reflected the doctrine of the Trinity, that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were distinct entities joined in one God”.  On the  flip side, in the 17th & 18th c some felt strawberries
 represent lust and temptation...their inclusion could be a reminder to resist temptations and remain faithful~
  all  would befit a young couple just getting married...... not to mention, wild ones were plentiful and hardy.

 Here is another view of that gorgeous vase of strawberries on that hideous wooden chunk.  Imagine my surprise and absolute amazement when I realized that none of them are connected or attached to the vase~ which would explain why they would have to always be upright to display and not loose all the pieces~

 Can you believe it?! All of the berries and leaves have had their stems drawn out into long spikes that stick down into the vase~ the vase itself like a huge frog.  One can remove them all and rearrange to their liking~ each so delicate, each a work of art in itself.

 *a frog was a cover that could be placed over a vase or container, with cross cross net/wires or holes in the top, that flowers could be placed thru to keep them in place in a floral arrangement 

More Early Glass Cake Decorations~

Solid & Spun Glass....I wouldn't Recommend for Eating....

 The last set of birds in the set are beautiful pink 'somethings'.. I have no idea what, but aren't they pretty? Both are set high atop blue & pink colored pedestals~ one on short feet, the other on rather tall very fragile legs~ they lean to the back a little sitting on a hard surface, but plunged down into a cake, could be positioned so the bird is perfectly vertical. See their long tail 'feathers'...that's spun glass!

 The most beautiful, I assume the male, has a gorgeous dark brown breast.

Each of the birds' tails have three blown holes that the spun glass has been inserted into.  Think of angel hair on your Christmas Tree...it does shed a little....not exactly something you would want as a decor on an edible cake..

The pedestals are both decorated with little pink roses~ this one has fancy feet that match the feet of several other pieces. You can see that the glass from his tail nearly touches the ground!

I think the next two most amazing! Their long glass spikes have not been broken off. (And no, it is not simply the glass rod they were made on, it is an actual spike that tapers to a point at the end). Each has a pink glass basket overflowing with fauna and pink & blue roses underneath an arbor of glorious meticulously shaped cobalt blue glass.  This one is sadly missing it's figure~

But this one is not~ it still retains a beautiful and absolutely cunning lampworked cupid holding a bow in one hand and arrow in the other. I so wish the other one was not lost~ one can see where its feet once stood, little white stumps sticking up...I wonder what it was!  
  Lampwork is the term used to describe the method used to make glass works such as these. It has been around since the 1400's~ A worker would sit at a table with an oil burning lamp that had either a bellows underneath of it or a tube he could blow into to direct his breath toward the flame to make it burn hotter. Rods of glass were held into the flame until they melted to the right temperature, and then he would form them into figures and all sorts of fanciful things. 16th and 17th c lampwork figures commonly are built up over a wire stick form, with some of the rods of glass even containing minute wires of copper within them to give the figures strength. (None of my pieces have any wire in them).  It is quite amazing if you consider that todays lampworkers use acetylene fired torches!  
    ohhhhh to have been there and have gotten to watch how they were made~ what a dream that would be!

hints of Fertility in Glass....

Storks & Ibis & a wee little nest of eggs....

 I am not a bird expert, so cannot say for certainty the exact type of birds these are~ but their long bills and legs look like a type of Ibis.... whatever they are, I LOVE them! They are so graceful, so perfectly proportioned and artfully posed

Amazingly, their wings alone are sculpted from three different types of glass that shade from clear to opaque white to pink.

I love this set~ so whimsical! These two beauties are most definitely Ciconiiformes...but which ones???  Tall wading birds~ perhaps a type of early stork, tho I have not seen a stork with such long top knot~

They are so fluid and so fragile! I am still in awe they traveled thru the mail and did not arrive in a zillion tiny pieces.

These two have so much character~ the one looks as tho it is about to take flight

As much as I love the other two, this one is my favorite I think~ the second anyone, including myself, sees the nest of eggs, they gasp in delight.

Here is a closeup of the nest with three precious little eggs within~ you can also see the gorgeous colors of the bird.  There are at least nine different colors of glass in this piece,  5 of which are in the bird. There is clear, opaque white, & opaque pink for the body, opaque dark brown for the beak and eye, and a ring of golden orange around the eye. Transparent green for the foliage, a transparent and opaque pinks for the roses, and transparent light brown for the nest.

Miraculous...Delicate.... Confectionery Delights!

Antique, Early 19th c Blown Glass Cake Decorations

What a delight to share!  We have been blessed to acquire a collection of early glass cake or pastry decorations amassed c1840, perhaps made well before that. They are of such high skilled execution and design one could speculate they could have been commissioned by Master Chef Antonin Careme himself for some spectacular dessert marvel.  The collection includes 14 separate pieces, and so wonderful, I have chosen to share them each a few at a time so you can appreciate their petite & wonderful magic for yourselves.

They all of coarse have their issues, but they pale in comparison to their Grandeur!  My mind races off on adventures of its own when I try to imagine the cake or cakes that once held these masterpieces of a glass blower's art~ what occasion was so special to require such intricate, delicate figures?  A Wedding???  A Birthday????  Perhaps a Engagement???  Perhaps there was a special baby on the way???  I would tend to theorize it is a set for a wedding or engagement~ all of the birds and animals are in pairs...the only bird that is not, is paired with a nest of eggs (fertility)...there are not one but two pieces containing strawberries (in 17th & 18th c strawberries represented faithfulness and commitment in marriage)...there is a carriage & driver~ (perhaps come to take a girl courting?).... there are the two spade shape arches that still retain their long glass spikes~ in the center of one is a cupid with a bow and arrow (love)....the tallest of all the figures, at nearly 14" tall, is this wonderful piece shown above~ it has a glass hook on each side, that once probably held a hanging basket...but of what? It looks like a scale to me~ a perfectly 'balanced' scale..... so far everything is screaming love & courtship and engagement/marriage!

But then....in gets thrown the big question mark~ a candelabra with not one or two..but three candles!

It is second tallest of the figures, on very fancy cobalt glass feet.  The last home of the collection displayed them glued into their display case~ all of which I will be carefully removing. They are so delicate~ one cannot help themselves to hold their breath when looking at them, for fear of blowing one over and breaking it

 As if the three clear glass rods were not indication of a candle enough....here they are~ three wonderfully hand blown hollow glass candles complete with dark wicks atop them

Each fits perfectly over the glass rod of the candelabra

Now there is a funky flourish of glass jetting straight out toward the camera in this picture~ so perhaps there were another two candles on this....but it doesn't look like anything is missing from the middle, where they would have been attached, and there aren't any extra candles....but even if there were....what is the significance of three or five candles??? Three or five years.....what does it man? I want to know!!!  lol

   Whoever, and for whatever reason these were made, I probably will never know, but one thing is for certain, these were a special commission from a master glass worker, from a very, very wealthy person, for a very special occasion.  I hope later to display them as they were made to be, on a set of cakes. Until then, I hope you will enjoy the next few posts of them individually.