Vase

Glassware

Patrick Henry's Red Hill

Name/Title

Vase

Entry/Object ID

2021.20.1

Description

Orange opaline blown glass vase with milky white interior and bright orange exterior. Rounded body with elongated neck and flared rim. Lip and base are gilded. An 18-century scene is printed on one side with a man in in a dark green jacked and breeches with white stockings and buckle shoes playing a cello. A woman in a maroon dress is seated behind him at a pianoforte or harpsichord. The image is surrounded by a gilded and white medallion border with leaves. On the opposite side, a flower-shaped white and gilded design is centered on the body. A pontil mark and handwritten number five ("5.") is on the underside of the base.

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1860 - circa 1900

Time Period

19th Century

Place

* Untyped Place

France

Dimensions

Height

14 in

Diameter

5-1/2 in

Material

Glass, Paint

Provenance

Notes

This vase and its match (2021.20.2) are French opaline glass and were, at one time, owned by Elizabeth Henry Lyons (1855–1920), a great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry. Opaline glass is a style of antique glassware that was produced in Europe, particularly in 19th-century France. It was originally made by adding materials such as bone ash to lead-crystal, creating a semi-opaque glass with reddish opalescence. According to a letter written on August 16, 1969 by James Marshall Henry II (1905–1970), a great-great-grandson of Patrick Henry, to James Marshall Henry III (1943–living), the vases "belonged to your great aunt Mrs Elizabeth Henry Lyons...." The vases were given from Elizabeth Lyons to James Marshall Henry II, who then gave them to his son, James Marshall Henry III. James Marshall Henry III donated the vases to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation on July 2, 2021.