Hedwig glass
Encyclopedia
Hedwig glasses or Hedwig beakers are a type of glass beaker originating in the Middle East
or Norman Sicily and dating from the 10th-12th centuries AD. They are named after the Silesian
princess Saint Hedwig
(1174-1245), to whom three of them are traditionally said to have belonged. So far, a total of 14 complete glasses are known. The exact origin of the glasses is disputed, with Egypt
, Iran
and Syria
all suggested as possible sources; if they are not of Islamic manufacture they are certainly influenced by Islamic glass
. Probably made by Muslim
craftsmen, some of the iconography
is Christian, suggesting they may have been made for export or for Christian clients. The theory that they instead originate from Norman Sicily in the 11th century was first fully set out in a book in 2005 by Rosemarie Lierke, and has attracted some support from specialists.
details.
The glasses are mostly of a smoky metal colour with a couple of greenish or yellowish glass. The decorations are in two styles: four have abstract decorations derived from Samarra Style C; another eight have zoomorphic decorations of lions, griffin
s and eagles and palm trees.
They were probably made in emulation of the rock crystal
carved vessels
made in Fatimid Egypt rather earlier, which were objects of great luxury in the Middle Ages, and have also mostly survived in church treasuries. A number of the glasses were elaborated into reliquaries, or in one case a chalice
, during the Middle Ages, with the addition of goldsmith's work, including those at Namur, Krakow and Halberstadt (see below). Lierke suggests that notches in the bases of many indicate that they were originally given other metalwork settings, perhaps as chalices, but none of these have survived. Seven of the known Hedwig glasses have 13th- to 15th-century metal mounts.
As of 2009, 14 complete Hedwig glasses and ten additional fragments are known.
The British Museum's example is a "Highlight" object and was selected as the 57th object in the series A History of the World in 100 Objects
selected by British Museum director Neil MacGregor
and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
in 2010.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
or Norman Sicily and dating from the 10th-12th centuries AD. They are named after the Silesian
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
princess Saint Hedwig
Hedwig of Andechs
Saint Hedwig of Silesia , also Saint Hedwig of Andechs from the comital House of Andechs was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from 1232 until 1238.-Life:...
(1174-1245), to whom three of them are traditionally said to have belonged. So far, a total of 14 complete glasses are known. The exact origin of the glasses is disputed, with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
all suggested as possible sources; if they are not of Islamic manufacture they are certainly influenced by Islamic glass
Glass in Islamic culture
The influence of the Islamic world to the history of glass is reflected by its distribution around the world, from Europe to China, and from Russia to East Africa...
. Probably made by Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
craftsmen, some of the iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
is Christian, suggesting they may have been made for export or for Christian clients. The theory that they instead originate from Norman Sicily in the 11th century was first fully set out in a book in 2005 by Rosemarie Lierke, and has attracted some support from specialists.
Design
All 14 of the complete Hedwig glasses so far known all have roughly the same form: they are squat, thick-walled and straight-sided with a flange around the base. They are around 14cm high and have a diameter of nearly 14cm. All but one are richly decorated with wheel-cut relief with hatchedHatching
Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines...
details.
The glasses are mostly of a smoky metal colour with a couple of greenish or yellowish glass. The decorations are in two styles: four have abstract decorations derived from Samarra Style C; another eight have zoomorphic decorations of lions, griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
s and eagles and palm trees.
They were probably made in emulation of the rock crystal
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
carved vessels
Hardstone carving
Hardstone carving is a general term in art history and archaeology for the carving for artistic purposes of semi-precious stones, also known as gemstones, such as jade, rock crystal , agate, onyx, jasper, serpentine or carnelian, and for an object made in this way. Normally the objects are small,...
made in Fatimid Egypt rather earlier, which were objects of great luxury in the Middle Ages, and have also mostly survived in church treasuries. A number of the glasses were elaborated into reliquaries, or in one case a chalice
Chalice
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. This can also refer to;* Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine* Chalice , a type of smoking pipe...
, during the Middle Ages, with the addition of goldsmith's work, including those at Namur, Krakow and Halberstadt (see below). Lierke suggests that notches in the bases of many indicate that they were originally given other metalwork settings, perhaps as chalices, but none of these have survived. Seven of the known Hedwig glasses have 13th- to 15th-century metal mounts.
Distribution
The Hedwig glasses were clearly high status objects. According to Ettinghausen and Grabar, writing in 1987, so far no examples of this type of glass have been found in the Near East: "all the preserved pieces come from the treasuries of Western churches and noble houses". Small sherds of broken Hedwig glasses have been found in excavations.As of 2009, 14 complete Hedwig glasses and ten additional fragments are known.
Complete
- British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK. Displayed in Room 34. BM Ref ME OA 1959.4-14.1, acquired in 1959, donated by P T Brooke Sewell. - Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Holland. Ref BK-NM-712. - Corning Museum of GlassCorning Museum of GlassThe Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, New York, explores every facet of glass, including art, history, culture, science and technology, craft, and design....
, Corning, New YorkCorning (city), New YorkCorning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...
, USA. - Germanisches NationalmuseumGermanisches NationalmuseumThe Germanisches Nationalmuseum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day...
, NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany. - Veste Coburg (Art Collections (Kunstsammlungen)), CoburgCoburgCoburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
, Germany. - Minden CathedralMindenMinden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
, Germany. - Schloss Friedenstein museum, GothaGotha (town)Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
, Germany. - HalberstadtHalberstadtHalberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
Cathedral, Germany. - Krakow Cathedral, Poland.
- Wrocław (formerly Breslau) Museum, Poland.
- The Abbey of the Soeurs de Notre-Dame de OigniesSisters of Notre Dame de NamurThe Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the name of a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, dedicated to providing education to the poor.The order was founded in Amiens in 1803, but the opposition of the local bishop to missions outside his diocese led to the moving of headquarters to then...
, NamurNamur (city)Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
, Belgium (two examples here).
Fragments
- Fragment from BommersheimBommersheimBommersheim is one of five town districts of Oberursel, located southeast of the core city and immediately northwest of Frankfurt am Main in Germany.-History:...
, Germany. - Fragment from GöttingenGöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany (excavated at Ritterplan, the site of the destroyed castle in the centre of the city). - Three fragments from HilpoltsteinHilpoltsteinHilpoltstein is a town in the district of Roth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 10 km southeast of Roth bei Nürnberg and 30 km south of Nuremberg.-History:* Origins of the castle and the town date back to the 10th century....
, Germany. - Two fragments from WeinsbergWeinsbergWeinsberg is a town in the north of the German state Baden-Württemberg. It was founded ca. 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 11,800 inhabitants. It is noted for its wine...
, Germany. - Fragment in the Budapest History Museum, Hungary, excavated from the former royal castle thereMedieval Royal Palace (Buda Castle)The Medieval Royal Palace of Buda Castle is a series of rooms from the old palace of the Hungarian kings, destroyed after 1686. Some rooms were unearthed and reconstructed during the postwar rebuilding of Buda Castle in 1958-62...
. Inv. No 52.276. - Fragment excavated from BrnoBrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
(formerly Bruenn), Czech Republic. - Fragment from South-west Russia.
The British Museum's example is a "Highlight" object and was selected as the 57th object in the series A History of the World in 100 Objects
A History of the World in 100 Objects
A History of the World in 100 Objects was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor...
selected by British Museum director Neil MacGregor
Neil MacGregor
Robert Neil MacGregor, OM, FSA is an art historian and museum director. He was the Editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1981 to 1987, the Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, and was appointed Director of the British Museum in 2002...
and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in 2010.
Further reading
- Allen, E. N., The Hedwig Glasses, A Survey, 1987, Hyatsville, Maryland.
- Brend, B., 1991, Islamic Art London, The British Museum Press
- Hayward Gallery, 1976, The Arts of Islam London/Hayward Gallery, Arts Council of Great Britain page 141
- Husband, Timothy B., 2009, "The Asseburg-Hedwig Glass Re-emerges" The Four Modes of Seeing: Approaches to Medieval Imagery in Honor of Madeline Harrison Caviness, edited by Evelyn Staudinger Lane, Elizabeth Carson Pastan, and Ellen M. Shortell, pp. 44–62. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2009.
- Lierke, Rosemarie. Die Hedwigsbecher – das normannisch- sizilische Erbe der staufischen Kaiser, 2005, F. Rutzen Verlag, Mainz/Ruhpolding, ISBN 3938646047
- Shalem, Avinoam , 1998, Islam Christianized: Islamic portable objects in the medieval church treasuries of the Latin West Volume 7 of Ars faciendi
- Tait, H. (ed.), 1991, Five Thousand Years of Glass London: The British Museum Press
External links
- British Museum page on a Hedwig glass in its collection
- The British Museum's Hedwig glass in its collections database
- BBC Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects page on a Hedwig glass in its collection
- Transcript of the BBC Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects programme on the British Museum's Hedwig glass
- Hedwig glass at the Rijksmuseum
- Hedwig glass at the Corning Museum of Glass