{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O11943"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O11943/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HB6472/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HB6472/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HB6472","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O11943","accessionNumber":"LOAN:CERANON.4-1981","objectType":"Plaque","titles":[{"title":"Cleopatra","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>Cameo glass is extremely labour-intensive and therefore expensive to buy.  This plaque was made for the collectors' market and its complexity  means that it was aimed at the very richest of clientele.  It was intended solely for display and its owner was expected to provide very special presentation, with lighting precise enough to bring out the subtleties of Cleopatra's diaphaneous drapery carved with formidable skill by the Woodall brothers.<br><br><b>Subjects Depicted</b><br>Classical subjects represented the highest possible taste.  They suggested familiarity with Greek and Latin and an aristocratic, expensive education. Genuinely ancient artefacts, such as those excavated on sites in Rome at the beginning of the 19th century, were collected by artists, writers and academics.  By the 1890s, the newly-rich could purchase their way into this exclusive intellectual fraternity by buying new objects decorated with ancient motifs.  In addition, cameo-glass carving was an ancient technique which, in itself, suggested exclusivity and taste on the part of the owner.<br><br><b>Materials & Making</b><br>The earliest and most famous example of cameo-glass carving is the ancient Roman Portland Vase, in the British Museum.  It was made by blowing a vase-shape of one colour inside another, allowing these to cool and then carving through both layers to form a three-dimensional picture.  Achieving this without having the two colours separate as they cool, and then carving successfully without shattering the piece (for instance, by cutting through an unforeseen bubble) was immensely difficult.  The technique was rediscovered and developed in the late 19th century by John Northwood.","physicalDescription":"Circular cameo glass plaque depicting Cleopatra and her attendants, with Egyptian architecture and statues in the background.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Woodall, George","id":"A1037"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Woodall, George","id":"A1037"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Woodall, Thomas","id":"A9004"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Woodall, Thomas","id":"A9004"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Thomas Webb & Sons","id":"A438"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cameo glass","id":"AAT181908"}],"techniques":[{"text":"flashing (glass-working)","id":"AAT53931"},{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cameo glass","categories":[{"text":"Games","id":"THES48947"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2014HB6472"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"122G (VA)","id":"THES49219"},"free":"","case":"CA11","shelf":"","box":"27"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Plaque","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Stourbridge","id":"x29187"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1885","earliest":"1880-01-01","latest":"1889-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Anonymous loan","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"44.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 18/01/1999 by sf","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Designed and cut by Thomas Woodall (1850-1925) and George Woodall (1849-1926)  for Thomas Webb & Sons, Stourbridge, West Midlands\n\nShown at the Paris International Exhibition of 1889\n\nHistorical significance: The subject matter of this plaque is typical of the Woodall brothers' work. They produced a number of plaques and vases with romantic classical themes rather similar to the paintings of Alma-Tadema. Their considerable skill in cameo glass carving can be seen in the rendering of details such as the feather fans and the palm trees.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Circular cameo glass plaque depicting Cleopatra and her attendants, with Egyptian architecture and statues in the background. English (Stourbridge), ca.1885. Designed and made by Thomas and George Woodall, for Thomas Webb & Sons.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"[Charleston, Robert J. <font -u>Masterpieces of Glass</font>. New York, 1990. p.200.]"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hadjamach, Charles R. <font -u>British Glass 1800-1914</font>. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1991, pp.218-225."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Fleming, John and Hugh Honour. <font -u>The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts</font>. London: Penguin, 1977. pp.866-867."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"See Ceramics & Glass Dept Object Information File"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Whitehouse, David. English Cameo Glass in Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, 1994"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Grover, Ray and Lee. English Cameo Glass, New York, 1980."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Woodall Perry, Chris. The Cameo Glass of Thomas and George Woodall, publ.Richard Dennis, 2000."}],"production":"George and Thomas Woodall ran the cameo glass department at Thomas Webb & Sons from 1874 onwards.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Cleopatra","id":"N52"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"buildings","id":"AAT4792"},{"text":"statues","id":"AAT47600"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nGlass manufacturers such as Thomas Webb & Sons revived the Roman cameo technique from about 1860. The Woodall brothers, who ran the cameo glass department there from 1874, favoured classical subjects.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:CERANON.4-1981"],"accessionNumberNum":"4","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:CERANON","accessionYear":1981,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Previous loan number","id":"THES50326"},"number":"LOAN:ANON.2-2001"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"1999-11-03","availableToBook":false}}