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Lot 121*

A superb Dutch stipple-engraved light baluster wine glass by 'Alius', circa 1770

27 November 2024, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

£10,000 - £15,000

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A superb Dutch stipple-engraved light baluster wine glass by 'Alius', circa 1770

The slightly flared round funnel bowl delicately decorated with three children, including a seated girl playing a mandolin with a boy seated behind her, another boy kneeling on a grassy mound beside them playing a flute, all watching a dig dancing on its hind legs at their feet, flanked by shrubs and with pendant foliage beneath, on a slender stem with an angular shoulder knop above a beaded inverted baluster, over a conical foot, 18.1cm high

Footnotes

Provenance
Glerum, The Hague, 28 March 1990, lot 472
With Sheppard & Cooper and/or Mallett & Son

Literature
Christopher R S Sheppard and John P Smith, Engraved Glass: Masterpieces from Holland (1990), p.74, no.36
F G A M Smit, Uniquely Dutch Eighteenth-Century Stipple-Engravings on Glass (1993), p.140, no.Ea.22

Although he never signed any of his engravings, 'Alius' was one of the most important Dutch master glass engravers of the 18th century. The incredible lightness of touch which he achieved on this goblet demonstrates the remarkable degree to which this engraver mastered the stipple technique. It is perhaps no surprise that for many years this piece was considered to be the work of his contemporary, David Wolff. Children in stipple-engravings such as this are often associated with friendship and those which depict both boys and girls, particularly those shown enjoying themselves or making music, are amongst the most enchanting of stippled subjects. Above all, the scene evokes sentiments of happiness, joy, love and harmony. Smit (1993) records just 7 glasses by 'Alius' alluding to music, including the present lot.

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