Monday, November 24, 2014

Common glassware in Dutch Still Life painting during the Golden Age, the Pass Glass A.k.a Pala glass

Another very common object in the Dutch Still Life paintings. These were usually octagonal glasses that were used for beer in drinking games. The glass had a blue glass swirl going around that was used to measure the beer in it. The glass was passed on from player to player (hence their name). The player in turn had to drink from measure to measure in one gulp, if he missed (no women were allowed) then he had to do it again. Here are some examples of pass glasses in Dutch Paintings. The last “photo-painting”  shows my own in one of my still lifes.

Since I could not find a real pass glass I had to “make” mine. I found a tall glass and I devised the swirl around it. The swirls is transparent but I could easily turn it blue, which I did for another glass…stay tune, it will be  included in this winter’s Still life run.

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Rembrandt Van Rijn (1637) @ Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden, Germany

Pieter Claesz – Still Life with Drinking Vessels

My own….

Rembrandt is holding one of these in his well-known Rembrandt and Saskia in the Scene of “the Prodigal Son in the Tavern” (first picture from left to right). Experts believe that the glass was cheap in the XVII Century which explains why you can see it in a Tavern.

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