[MR] setting a table

[Jennifer Dobyns]

On Dec 4, 2008, at 2:02 PM, C. Brian Towey wrote:

>> Would "shrub glasses" (commonly available and relatively  
>> affordable at
>> Colonial Williamsburg) be appropriate, or are they too late?
>
> The "shrub glasses" look a lot like the upended glass in "The  
> Triumph of
> Death" by, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1562).
> http://www.wga.hu/preview/b/bruegel/pieter_e/05/02death.jpg
>


One difference between the Williamsburg shrub glasses and the glass  
in the Bruegel painting is the bulge between the bowl and the base of  
the glass, which sort of resembles a ring at that joint.  I have seen  
an example which looks something like the glass in the painting, but  
it has some applied decorative elements in addition to the bulge.  I  
would love it if someone could find an example of a glass with the  
same design details as the simpler shrub glass, as I have a bunch I  
could use!  *G*  However, for now I'm regarding mine as OOP and  
leaving them in the cupboard for feasts.  All the sources I've seen  
with examples of that sort of glass are too late for SCA.

The Museum of London site has some excellent examples of glasses, as  
does the Smithsonian book on glass prepared by the Cooper Hewitt  
Museum (the exact name escapes me at the moment, I was looking at it  
in the library this morning, though).

One other thing I noticed in my admittedly short search this morning  
was that there seemed to be a lot more beaker type glasses than  
anything else.   Including some in glass that resembled the julep cup  
mentioned earlier.

Back to rummaging through books and museum sites for ideas *G*

Genevieve