CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - Harvard Square's Hurst Gallery will present
"Vitrum Antiquorum: Ancient Glass from Boudoir, Bath and Board,"
a collection of more than 75 pieces of ancient glass spanning
three millennia, from circa Fifth Century BC to the Twelfth
Century AD, originating from areas in Western Europe, North
Africa and the Middle East. The exhibit will run through June 28.
The collection of glass contains examples of a range of
manufacturing techniques, including core-formed, cast blown,
mold-cut and carved. Free-blown and mold-blown examples
predominate in the collection. Works of spectacular size include
a platter more than 14 inches in diameter and a cylindrical jug
that is 18 inches in height. Among the smaller pieces are those
blown into molds with delicately preserved figural details,
including a very rare bottle, less than three inches tall, with
an erotic scene in raised relief.
This exhibit gives specialized collectors, museums and indeed
anyone with a taste for antiquity and beauty an opportunity to
acquire examples over a wide spectrum of rarity and value. Prices
start at a very few hundred dollars and range into the low five
figures for forms of extreme rarity, scale or quality.
Norman Hurst began dealing in ancient glass at Hurst Gallery in
Cambridge, Mass., in 1982 with several hundred examples that a
New England historical society collected in Jerusalem around
1900. Since then, Hurst has continued to buy, sell and appraise
ancient glass for museums and individuals. The glass in the
present exhibit has come from two private American collections
formed in the 1930s in Syria and Lebanon and the early 1970s in
California.
For information, 617-491-6888. Hurst Gallery is at 53 Mount
Auburn Street.
