A dated Dutch stipple-engraved calligraphic light baluster goblet signed by F. Greenwood

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FRANS GREENWOOD A POET ON GLASS Frans Greenwood was born in Rotterdam on the 17th of april 1680. His parents were both English born. He was co-owner of his father's sugar plantation in Surinam (Dutch West Indies) and was affluent enough to dedicate himself to the Fine Arts. He wrote poetry and practised stippling with a diamond-point on glass. In 1726 he moved from Rotterdam to Dordrecht where he was a customs officer. He can be considered to be the inventor of the stipple-engraving technique on glass. His first work dates from 1720. F.G.A.M. Smit states that 46 glasses are known by his hand. Nearly all Greenwood engravings are signed and most of them are dated as well. His most active period was between 1740 and 1750. F.G.A.M. Smit states that 'Most of the goblets with damaged or missing foot probably met with an unfortunate accident during engraving'. He favoured the portrayal of human subjects. His outstanding style of stippling with the use of subtle shadow hues makes his work an absolute highlight of 18th century glass art. He died in 1753, aged 74. Examples of his work (Smit op.cit. 1988 pp.179-180) in the custody of: The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; British Museum, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg; Hessisches Landesmuseum, Kassel; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg; Museum Heylshof, Worms; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem; Museum Simon van Gijn, Dordrecht; Gemeentemuseum, The Hague; Historisch Museum, Rotterdam; Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; The Art Institute, Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning N.Y.

A dated Dutch stipple-engraved calligraphic light baluster goblet signed by F. Greenwood

THE GLASS ENGLAND OR THE NETHERLANDS, 1747

Details

A dated Dutch stipple-engraved calligraphic light baluster goblet signed by F. Greenwood
THE GLASS ENGLAND OR THE NETHERLANDS, 1747
The funnel bowl engraved with Pictura in elaborate script, the reverse with a palette with eight paint-brushes in the thumbhole, in front of a maulstick, enhanced by a laurel crown, above F.Greenwood and fec t. 1747, above a short upper section and a knop with oblique tears and an inverted baluster section, the conical foot folded (the inverted baluster section with part enclosed in silver)
20 cm. high

Literature

W. Buckley, Notes on Franz Greenwood and the glasses that he engraved, London, 1930, p. 14 no 18 pl.22; L.J. Bol, Herdenkingstentoonstelling Aart Schouman, Dordrecht, 1960, p. 94 no 184; F.G.A.M. Smit, Frans Greenwood 1680-1763 Dutch Poet and Glass engraver, Peterborough, 1988, p.163 no 47.3, ill.117 and 118.

Exhibited

Tentoonstelling Het Hollandsche Interieur in de XVIIIe eeuw, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 14th of March-3th of May 1931; Herdenkingstentoonstelling Aart Schouman, Dordrecht's Museum, Dordrecht, 27th of August-2th of October 1960; On loan to Museum Simon van Gijn, Dordrecht, 1993-2004, inv. no. 17426.

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

F.G.A.M. Smit, op.cit. p.163, 'In analogy with the comparable Pöesis goblet (46.1) this glass was probably engraved for a fellow-artist, or for a painter's brotherhood or guild. If the latter was the case, it could have concerned the Pictura brotherhood in The Hague'.

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