This well known glass vessel, known as the Luck of Edenhall, was made in Syria halfway through the 14th century. Throughout the years, the artifact has been kept protected under the custody of the Musgrave family until it was loaned to the V&A Museum in 1926, and was then secured for the British nation in 1958.
Made out of brownish colourless glass and intricately decorated with embellishments in blue, green, red and white enamel with gilding, the beaker shaped cup is 15.8 cm high and 11.1 cm wide at the brim. The materials used in the production of the 14th century free-blown Islamic glass, are gold, glass and enamel where as the techniques used in achieving the final product are gilding, enameling and firing.
Historic Background
With its history unknown …show more content…
In order to support the artifact in the glass furnace, a strong metal pole is known as a pontil is connected to the base of the vessel, and is cut off and polished after firing is done. Wooden pieces, jacks, and shears are used to shape an article. The gaffer controls the shape and thickness by warming the parison at the heater and molding and blowing to make the final form. Prior to the blowing, the mellowed object is also rolled on a smooth metal surface, while the mouth of the vessel is shaped using jacks to trim extra hot glass formed during the creation.
Gueit, Darque-Ceretti & Aucouturier explain the technique employed by 14th century Islamic artists to apply gilding on an artifact, where the organic binder Gum Arabic, is blended with the golden, pulverised flake making up the gilding. The desired decoration would have been previously defined using a thin line of red enameling mixture, and then the gilding is applied using a brush. When done, the other enameling mixtures of different tinges are applied to finish off the decoration.