GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
Reviews on              Nº 7   2019

    GLASS
                             ICOM Glass
                             Lectures: ICOM Glass Annual Meeting
                             in Sars-Poteries (France) 2017

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
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                                                                                                          GLASS
                                                                                                                                     ICOM
                                                                                                                                     international committee
                                                                                                                                     for museums
                                                                                                                                     and collections of glass

                                                                                                 ICOM INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                 FOR MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS OF GLASS
                                                                                                 http://network.icom.museum/glass

                                                                                                 Editorial and Board Members
                                                                                                 Reino Liefkes. Chair
                                                                                                 Teresa Medici. Secretary
                                                                                                 Sven Hauschke. Treasurer
                                                                                                 Katarina Benova
                                                                                                 Elvira Schuartz
                                                                                                 Paloma Pastor
                                                                                                 María Luisa Martínez

                                                                                                 English text correction
                                                                                                 Amy McHugh

                                                                                                 Coordinator of this journal
                                                                                                 Paloma Pastor

                                                                                                 Cover illustration
                                                                                                 Harvey K. Líttleton, Sculpture, 1968.
                                                                                                 © Paul Louis

                                                                                                 Back cover Illustration
                                                                                                 Les mascottes. © Musée Lalique

                                                                                                 Layout
                                                                                                 Cyan, Proyectos Editoriales, S.A.

                                                                                                 © 2019 ICOM Glass and authors

                                                                                                 ISSN: 2227-1317

                                                                                                 Journal sponsored by
                                                                                                 ICOM. International Council of Museums

                                                                                                 No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced
                                                                                                 without the written permission of the publisher.
                                                                                                 ICOM Glass can not accept any responsibility for
                                                                                                 errors or inaccuracies in the information.

  Vase en verre soufflé, avec projection d’émaux, inv. 2017.2.3. Don Barlach Heuer. © Musée du
  verre, Conches / Paul Louis.

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
SUMMARY
     4
     Lectures         4 Le Stanze del Vetro 12 Glass, why not? 16 Momignies, Beauwelz,
     Macquenoise: du verre au rêve 24 Glass in the Celje Region from the 18th Century to the
     Present 33 Georges Despret (1862-1952), l’aventure artistique d’un industriel verrier 39 The
     history and highlights of the glass collection in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts,
     Moscow, Russian Federation 47 Le Musée du Verre de Charleroi: une histoire, un musée, une
     collection 56 The Conches Glass Museum: its creation, collections and future 63 Le musée
     Lalique 70 Museum/Center of Glass art, Carmaux, South of France

      74                                             80
      Interview              Vice VERsa,             News     80 Congresses & Exhibitions
      Sally Fawkes                                   81 Book review 82 News

      84                                              86
      Memories                                       Members

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
Converging Connections. © Paul Louis.

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
FOREWORD

               The ICOM International Glass Committee is proud to present the seventh issue of its official
               publication Reviews on Glass. In this publication we present news of the activities of our
               Committee and provide a forum for our members to share common issues and remain up to date
               with the latest developments in our field.

               In 2018, the ICOM Glass Committee held its annual meeting in St. Petersburg in Russia, hosted by
               the State Hermitage Museum and organized by Curator Elena Anisimova. The meeting with the
               theme ‘Glass museums and collections in Russia’, attracted an ICOM Glass record number of 74
               participants. 29 of these were from Russia. This was the first time ICOM Glass organized a meeting
               in Russia and the opportunity to interact with so many Russian colleagues has made this very
               successful annual meeting into one of our most fruitful and memorable ones.

               Our successful meeting has reflected positively on our membership, which increased by an
               impressive 23 % from 2017 to 2018, to a total of 143 voting members! Within this total our
               number of institutional members rose from 20 to 23. Our diversity profile has also increased, and
               we now represent 30 different countries, up from 24. Over 80 % of our members is still from
               Europe, but we were pleased to see the number from the Asia/Pacific region double, from 4 to 8.

               During 2018 we continued develop our Website. http://network.icom.museum/glass, where we
               publish our yearly newsletter http://network.icom.museum/glass/our-publications/annual-newsletter/.
               For the historic part of our Website, we are still looking for any issues of our Newsletter, programme
               or list of participants of our meetings before 1985. Please let us know if you have any! Please join
               us on Facebook (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Glass) or follow us on
               Instagram (icom_glasscommittee).

               In this issue of Reviews on Glass we publish a selection of the papers presented at the ICOM
               GLASS annual meeting 2017, organized by the MusVerre in Sars-Poteries, France. The theme of
               our meeting was: New museums: documenting the past and reviving glass-making traditions and
               focussed on the industrial glassmaking area in Northern France and Belgium. I am pleased to
               include an interview with Anne Vanlatum, Artistic Director of the MusVerre as well as articles about
               glass and glass museums in France and Belgium and beyond.

               I would like to thank those speakers who have taken the effort to turn their spoken papers into
               wonderfully illustrated published text. Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Paloma
               Pastor – supported by Amy McHugh and Teresa Medici – for editing and putting together this issue.

               Reino Liefkes, outgoing Chairperson ICOM International Glass Committee

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
LECTURES

               Carlo Scarpa, Rigati e Tessuti. Installation view. © Ettore Bellini.

                                                     4

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
LECTURES
                                ICOM International Committee for Museums and
                                Collections of Glass annual meeting 2017 was held
                                in Sars-Poteries, (France), and organized by the
                                MusVerre from 16th to 20th of October.

                                The paper sessions explored the theme: New
                                museums: documenting and reviving glass-making
                                traditions. In this new issue we present a selection
                                of lectures given at this meeting thanks to Mrs. Aude
                                Cordonnier, director of the MusVerre and Mrs. Anne
                                Vanlatum artistic director of the museum and member
                                of ICOM Glass Committee.

                             Le Stanze
                                                        del Vetro
                                Manuela Divari. LE STANZE DEL VETRO

                                LE STANZE DEL VETRO (Rooms          contemporary forms of
                                for Glass) is a cultural project    glassmaking.
                                and a permanent exhibition
                                space located on the Island of      LE STANZE DEL VETRO is
                                San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.     located in a former boarding
                                                                    school on the island. With 650
                                Founded in the summer of 2012       square metres of exhibition
                                from the collaboration between      space, the exhibition centre
                                the Swiss nonprofit Pentagram       hosts not only exhibitions but
                                Stiftung and Fondazione Giorgio     also conferences, workshops
                                Cini it is dedicated to the study   and other events dedicated
                                and display of modern and           to glass.

                                                                    5

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               The restoration was carried out         contemporary artists, who             For this reason, every year until
               by New York based architect             have used glass as an original        2021, two exhibitions will be
               Annabelle Selldorf.                     means of expression, and to           staged on the island.
                                                       highlight and study the
               The cultural initiatives                leading producers and major           The first in spring, dedicated to
               of LE STANZE DEL VETRO are              collections of glass                  the use of glass in the fields of
               dedicated both to promote               worldwide.                            art and design of the 20th and
                                                                                             21st century; the second, in
                                                                                             autumn, dedicated to the
                                                                                             talented designers who created
                                                                                             objects for the Venini glassware
                                                                                             company in the 20th century.

                                                                                             Parallel to the exhibition
                                                                                             program, LE STANZE DEL
                                                                                             VETRO holds a series of special
                                                                                             projects, often site-specific,
                                                                                             where contemporary artists
                                                                                             (Swiss artist Not Vital in 2013,
                                                                                             Japanese photographer Hiroshi
                                                                                             Sugimoto in 2014 and American
                                                                                             artist Pae White in 2017) are
                                                                                             invited to consider and create a
                                                                                             work using glass as an artistic
                                                                                             medium.

                                                                                             In addition to their installation,
                                                                                             the artists are offered the
                                                                                             opportunity to create a unique
                                                                                             art object made of glass from
                                                                                             Murano.

                                                                                             The concept of these temporary
                                                                                             installations is to allow an
                                                                                             internationally acclaimed artist
                                                                                             to work on a large scale, and to
                                                                                             engage with the space between
                                                                                             sculpture and architecture.

                                                                                             Each project will be presented
                                                                                             over two years, during Venice’s
                                                                                             Art and Architecture Biennales,
                                                                                             aiming to address both of their
                                                                                             respective audiences as well as
                 This slide sums up the exhibitions held until now at LE STANZE DEL VETRO.
                                                                                             the public at large.

                                                  6

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GLASS Reviews on ICOM Glass
REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

                                                                                             flow of the Gualala river in
                                                                                             Northern California, which the
                                                                                             work echoes in both its structure
                                                                                             and layout.

                                                                                             As part of LE STANZE DEL
                                                                                             VETRO project, the Fondazione
                                                                                             Cini, with the support of
                                                                                             Pentagram Stiftung, has set up
                                                                                             a Glass Study Centre within its
                                                                                             Institute of Art History. The
                                                                                             centre aims at becoming a
                                                                                             reference point for the
                                                                                             international scientific
                                                                                             community, for the study of the
                                                                                             glass medium as a living and
                 Pae White, Qwalala. ® Ph. Enrico Fiorese.
                                                                                             topical material.

                                                                                             The Glass Study Centre is
                                                                                             promoting the creation of a
                                                                                             comprehensive Archive on
                                                                                             Venetian Glass, in order to
                                                                                             gradually incorporate the
                                                                                             historical archives of Murano-
                                                                                             based furnaces, which include
                                                                                             drawings, plans, letters and
                                                                                             photos.

                                                                                             Furthermore, the Glass Study
                                                                                             Centre aims to set up a
                                                                                             specialized library, at organize
                                                                                             seminars, conferences and
                                                                                             workshops for scholars and
                                                                                             artists interested in the history,
                 Paolo Venini and his furnace. Installation view. ® Ph. Enrico Fiorese.      technology and developments in
                                                                                             glassmaking.

               This image refers to the running           75 metres long and up to 2.4       The first exhibition that
               installation Qwalala by Pae                metres high, it occupies the       inaugurated the space was ‘Carlo
               White. It is the second outdoor            entire area opposite LE STANZE     Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947’.
               installation commissioned by Le            DEL VETRO.
               Stanze del Vetro and consists of a                                            The show reconstructed his
               curving wall made of thousands             The title of the piece, Qwalala,   creative development as artistic
               of solid glass-bricks, each hand-          is a Native American Pomo word     director of the Venini
               cast in the Veneto region.                 and references the meandering      Glassworks.

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LECTURES

               It was organised around a
               selection of over 300 works.
               Some of them shown for the first
               time.

               The works displayed were
               divided into approximately 30
               types that varied according to
               technique and glass types from
               sommerso, to pennelate.

               The exhibition explored the
               significance and importance of
               Scarpa’s glass design within his
               overall work, which involved
               continuous research into
               materials, colours and
               techniques, both traditional and       Vasi-fazzoletto vetro-incamiciato 1949-50.
               new, and which he carried out
               daily with the best master
               glassblowers.                         exhibition ever entirely                 glass techniques, the Macchie
                                                     dedicated to glass in the                series, with recognizable opaque
               From the series a bollicine that      Metropolitan.                            abstract decorations that stand
               fills the glass with tiny                                                      out on the thick transparent
               bubbles, to murrine romane,           The above images refer to the            glass and bring to the artworks a
               with the variation murrine            exhibition of ‘Fulvio Bianconi at        distinctive pictorial value, the
               opache, proceeding with the           Venini’ that aimed to give a             Sirene and the Nudi made in
               variegati zigrinati, the vetri a      comprehensive description of the         monochrome crystal glass.
               macchie, and the laccati neri         fruitful, longlasting collaboration
               e rossi.                              between the artist and the famous        The Pezzati series of 1950-51
                                                     Murano glassware company.                was received with great success,
               The show also included (as in                                                  they were created using a
               every exhibition), prototypes,        Bianconi focussed on pieces              patchwork of multicolored and
               one-offs, original drawings and       with sophisticated shapes, strong        transparent tesserae arranged
               designs, as well as period            colours, designing striking works,       like a chessboard, toghether with
               photographs and archive               some of which sum up the                 the A Spicchi series, those with
               documents.                            enthusiasm of the “fabulous”             horizontal and vertical stripes,
                                                     Fifties, and later became true           and the Scozzesi, which show an
               The Carlo Scarpa exhibition was       icons of Murano glassmaking.             exciting weave of crossed canes,
               received with great success and                                                shaped into an irregularly square
               enthusiasm by the public, the         Among them the series entitled           mould.
               press and critics, and then           Maschere italiane, the famous
               travelled onto the Metropolitan       Fazzoletto vase, of which there          In the same period Bianconi
               Museum of Art, New York, in           are several versions, with               made several glass animals,
               2013 which was the first              different dimensions, styles and         where the virtuosity of the

                                                 8

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

                                                                                        well as glasses from the 30s,
                                                                                        including the Trinkservice n.
                                                                                        248, the only glass service
                                                                                        designed by Adolf Loos still in
                                                                                        production today.

                                                                                        The show also presented the
                                                                                        ‘Boudoir d’une grande vedette’,
                                                                                        the glass room designed by
                                                                                        Josef Hoffmann for the Austrian
                                                                                        Pavilion at the 1937 Paris
                                                                                        World Exhibition, reconstructed
                                                                                        by the MAK.

                                                                                        The glass building, which
                                                                                        resembled a monumental
                                                                                        showcase, was the definition of
                 LE STANZE DEL VETRO.                                                   a clichéd modern room: with
                                                                                        mirrors on the walls, on the
                                                                                        floor and sumptuous luxury
               techniques mastered in Murano       pioneering developments of           furniture.
               was combined with his               modern decorative and
               playfulness and irony.              functional glass, working in close   J. & L. Lobmeyr delivered the
                                                   connection with the furnaces.        glass for the room and a
               In 2016 LE STANZE DEL                                                    chandelier designed by Haerdtl
               VETRO realized a very fruitful      The cooperation between the          and Hoffmann. The wall
               collaboration with the Museum       designers and the manufacturers      paneling was made of carved
               MAK in Vienna offering for the      led to new projects like the         wood with a silver layering to
               first time a comprehensive          ‘Wiener Werkstätte’ and the          support the glassy, bright,
               overview of the period from the     ‘Werkbund’ aiming to glorify the     shimmering effect within the
               final decades of the Austro-        production process and foster        room.
               Hungarian Monarchy up to the        the collaboration between art,
               end of the First Republic.          craft and industry.                  After its successful showing in
                                                                                        Venice, this impressive
               It was our second exhibition -      The show was complemented            exhibition was presented in the
               after the ‘Glass from Finland in    with a layout featuring examples     MAK itself at the beginning of
               the Bischofberger Collection’-      of the Wiener Werkstätte’s           2017 and will be travelling to
               that focused on the international   wallpapers and textile designs       New York next year.
               developments of glass in the        and presented the war and
               20th century.                       classicist glasses shown at the      This slide refers to the
                                                   Werkbund exhibition in Cologne       exhibition devoted to the
               The protagonists of the Viennese    in 1914, the glass works shown       creative entrepreneur Paolo
               Modernism, such as Hoffmann,        at the Exposition Internationale     Venini exhibiting 300 works that
               Moser, Olbrich, Prutscher, and      des Arts décoratifs et industriels   recount his vision as well as
               Loos, launched the first            modernes in Paris, in 1925, as       that of the artists who

                                                                                        9

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LECTURES

               We are able to
               offer most of
               our exhibitions
               to fellow
               institutions
               around the
               world

                                                     Ettore Sottsass: The glass exhibition View.

               collaborated with him over the       a white lace-like pattern that            Tobia Scarpa, the son of Carlo
               years.                               stands out against the coloured           Scarpa.
                                                    surface, and the stunning
               Milanese by birth and Muranese       mosaico tessuto multicolore.              To coincide with every exhibition
               by choice, Paolo Venini was a                                                  a scholarly catalogue, edited by
               great protagonist of 20th century    Venini himself designed the               some of the most important
               glass, and made a decisive           Diamante series in the 1930s,             scholars in the field, is
               contribution to keeping it alive     and the important series of               published by Skira for LE
               with his enthusiastic work over      incisi glass that reflect the             STANZE DEL VETRO.
               the course of almost forty years.    influence of Nordic design
                                                    orientated towards delicate               On the occasion of the 100th
               Paolo Venini, was a skilled          monochromes.                              anniversary of the birth of Italian
               businessman, sensitive to the                                                  architect Ettore Sottsass, LE
               trends of contemporary art as        The exhibition also features the          STANZE DEL VETRO celebrated
               well as the demands of the           creations of those who                    his glass and crystal production
               international market.                collaborated with him between             with the spring exhibition ‘Ettore
                                                    the Thirties and Fifties: Tyra            Sottsass: the Glass’.
               Several of his glass works           Lundgren, Gio Ponti, Piero
               stemmed from a refined and           Fornasetti, Eugène Berman, Ken            Curated by Luca Massimo
               innovative reinterpretation of       Scott who created the colourful           Barbero, Director of the Institute
               traditional Murano techniques,       series of 18 stylised fish                of Art History of Fondazione
               such as the zanfirico a reticello,   produced for the American                 Giorgio Cini, the show feautured
               in monochrome and sometimes          department store Macy’s,                  200 works – mostly from the
               richly coloured, together with the   Charles Lin Tissot, Riccardo              Ernest Mourmans collection –
               mosaico zanfirico, decorated with    Licata, Massimo Vignelli and              many of which on show for the

                                               10

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

               first time with an innovative        by the Native American                 Among the classical-shaped ones
               exhibition set-up design by          ceremonial dolls.                      is the well-known Veronese vase
               Annabelle Selldorf Studio.                                                  that was inspired by the one
                                                    Many pieces had never been             depicted in the sixteenth-century
               Rather than following a              exhibited before, such as the 22       Annunciation painting at the
               chronological exploration, the       glass sculptures of different          Galleria dell’ Accademia in
               show began with works from the       dimensions, some over a meter          Venice.
               1980s, belonging to Sottsass’s       tall, produced at the Cenedese
               Memphis series.                      glassworks in Murano that              The Cappellin Venini glass
                                                    Sottsass originally designed for       production was immediately
               The Memphis room made for a          the foyer of the “Millennium           distinguishable from the
               dazzling opener: on a plinth in      House” in Doha, a vanity project       Murano craftsmanship of the
               the center, eight whimsical yet      by the Emir of Qatar that was          time, both for its classical
               elegant vases in vivid colors face   never realized.                        proportions and rigorous
               a wall of backlit shelves, each                                             shapes, as well as for its
               holding a piece from the 1986        The currently running exhibition       remarkable colours, mostly
               series that highlight Sottsass’s     ‘Vittorio Zecchin: Transparent         delicate but at times intense
               departure from functionality in      Glass for Cappellin and Venini’        and bright shades of yellow,
               his work with glass.                 features 250 fine hand-blown           green, blue and amethyst.
                                                    mostly monochrome works
               These works also mark his            designed by the artist and painter     The exhibition ran until the 7th
               unorthodox experimentation with      in the 1920s, when he was              of January 2018.
               the medium where, for the first      appointed Artistic Director first at
               time in 1986, he introduced the      the V.S.M. Cappellin Venini & Co.      We are able to offer most of our
               use of chemical gluing               glassware company and then at          exhibitions to fellow institutions
               techniques, breaking with the        the M.V.M. Cappellin & Co.             around the world. They can be
               centuries-old Murano glass                                                  tailored to the size required,
               tradition of joint heating.          Vittorio Zecchin was a                 from say a 100 to 350 works.
                                                    revolutionary figure of twentieth-     The fact that catalogues are all
               The following rooms featured         century glass, which he                produced also in English and
               pieces produced with different       contributed to revive with the         that they comprise in each case
               craftsmen testing the boundaries     support of two enlightened             all the works by each designer
               of the medium, among other           entrepreneurs – Giacomo                or school, would enable the
               things through combinations          Cappellin and Paolo Venini –           hosting museum to readily use
               with materials such as marble        producing elegant glass works          our catalogue as their own, if
               and clay.                            which introduced modernism to          necessary changing the
                                                    Murano, though drawing                 frontmatter to suit their
               The glass works gradually            inspiration from Venetian              needs.
               become more geometrically            renaissance glass or paintings.
               coherent such as in the ironic                                              We’d love to collaborate with
               piece Asparagi sacri (sacred         The exhibition features his            any of you, and are ready to
               asparagus), created in 1994 for      rigorous bowls and vases, some         start today. Please get in touch
               Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, and     with a flat base, others with          with me at the following
               then more earnestly, as in the       folds or pinches in the body or        address:
               2004 series Kachinas, inspired       the neck.                              exhibitions@estanzedelvetro.

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                 Esther Pizarro and Emilio Elvira, MAVA Summer 2015.

                                                12

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

             Glass,
                                                    why not?
                                                    María Luisa Martínez García. Contemporary Art Glass
                                                    Museum in Alcorcón-MAVA

               The boom of the Studio Glass         spontaneous work with a great        Tony Cragg, Jaume Plensa, Javier
               movement took place between          conceptual load.                     Pérez and many others were
               the 1960s and 1990s; a new                                                available to the general public
               type of artist emerged dedicated     In the last ten years, since the     in exhibitions.
               exclusively to glass, while the      beginning of the new
               rest of the artists watched with     millennium, there has been a         They do not only present their
               curiosity and amazement at the       change in the trend. There is        work in specialized glass
               technical sophistication that they   increasingly a frequent presence     museums, but also in important
               were developing.                     of glass in exhibitions, prizes,     centers of contemporary art,
                                                    museums, galleries, and              such as Reina Sofía Museum,
               For several decades they lived       publications. There has been a       Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao,
               estranged. The first group           proliferation of glass teaching      the Tate Modern and the Center
               focused on the material, getting     centers with students of all         Georges Pompidou, just to
               caught-up in the technical           nationalities, who move quickly      mention a few.
               difficulties and challenges. They    and comfortably through our
               made the object itself the           global village. These                In “The Art of not making. The
               ultimate objective of their          developments have heightened         new artist / artisan relationship,”
               activity, turning “the medium        its growth and the general           Michael Petry writes about this
               in the message.”                     interest in glass.                   new taste, this return to the
                                                                                         recognition of the artisanal part
               General contemporary artists,        The largest push occurred the        of the contemporary artist.
               showed some contempt towards         glass art of international artists
               an activity that requires so much    with enormous media impact like      Unfortunately, most of the new
               effort and time in its production,   Kiki Smith, Mona Hatoum, Ai          artists who want to work with
               and were in favor of a more          Weiwei, Fred Wilson, Jean Fabre,     glass, are not willing to devote

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                                                        workshop that covers the three       I believe we can finally say that
                                                        phases of creativity: research,      glass is a present element in the
                                                        experimentation and production.      mind of any artist when facing
                                                                                             how to materialize their creative
                                                        For more than thirty years, it has   impulse.
                                                        retained a magnificent collection
                                                        of works produced in its             But precisely for this reason,
                                                        facilities. This is due to the       our work must be perseverant
                                                        highly qualified multi-lingual       and we, the museums whose
                                                        technical team who are very          main function is to expose and
                                                        receptive and open to the            educate, must also promote and
                 Thinking in Glass exhibition in        exchanging of ideas and visions.     look to help substantiate this
                 MAVA, 2016 March. © Phtoto,
                                                                                             concern of a growing number of
                 Markus Schroll.
                                                        In addition, the Glasstress          artists who wish to use glass
                                                        phenomenon is something that         in their works.
                                                        deserves to be studied in depth
               five, ten, or fifteen years of their     because of its media impact and      Most of our museums have
               life to learn how to execute and         its international recognition        realized this and, some with
               produce the pieces themselves.                                                more modest means and others
                                                        Created in 2011 by the Berengo       with large and complete
               In the 1980s and 1990s many              Foundation, the organization is      facilities, have a Studio or
               training centers emerged for all         directed by Adriano Berengo, an      Workshop to offer artists.
               levels of education, from small          audacious businessman with
               craft workshops to university            many high-level, global contacts,    The artist must find in our
               departments at major schools             including artists, gallerists and    institutions a welcoming place
               and national centers. They were          museums. The Glasstress              beyond the exhibition of great
               endowed with important                   exhibitions means only the last      works on which to be inspired.
               technical facilities and great           reflection of a whole set of an      We must open our museums to
               teachers, mostly artists                 incredible work, that includes       accompany and stimulate them
               themselves, some were                    communication, production,           to overcome the technical,
               mentioned earlier.                       exhibition, collecting and the art   training and economic brake that
                                                        market.                              involves the use of glass in their
               Besides, there are some                                                       works.
               landmarks places as CIRVA in             This portfolio of very diverse
               Marseille, as an example, with a         activities, some more                MAVA launched two projects in
               rigorous trajectory, but with an         commercial and others of a           recent the years, the first was
               elitist and minority impact. In          more institutional nature, have      called Think in glass (2016) and
               1983, the Center Internationel           borne fruit, bringing a great        the second Working Glass
               de Recherche sur le Verre e les          legacy and an enormous amount        (2018).
               Arts Plastiques was inaugurated,         of possibilities. The artist of
               a center for contemporary art            today, as soon as he enters the      The goal of these projects is to
               that includes a residence for            world of glass, immediately          stimulate the use of glass as a
               artists, designers and architects.       perceives that he/she has many       medium among artists who have
               It is a place for experimentation        possibilities at his disposal to     never used it in their works and
               and creation; it contains a glass        use it.                              who probably would not have

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

                                                                                        The museum offers its facilities
                                                                                        and its technicians to new
                                                                                        artists, and the non-glass artist,
                                                                                        in return the museum receives
                                                                                        attention and pieces for the
                                                                                        collection. Attention is important
                                                                                        to the development of the
                                                                                        collection because we always use
                                                                                        the collection to explain the
                                                                                        possibilities offered by glass.
                                                                                        The creation of a piece is equally
                                                                                        important because, although the
                 Working Glass.                                                         final piece is owned by the
                                                                                        artist, many end up donating
                                                                                        some works to MAVA. At the
               done it if it were not for a          The second project, Working        conclusion of the collaboration,
               proposal like ours.                   Glass, was with a group of         the works produced are shown in
                                                     sixteen talented young artists,    the galleries and later
               In the first project, nine mid-       some of them awarded with          exhibitions.
               career Spanish artists were           Spanish Academy in Rome,
               brought together for Think in         French Academy, or Fulbright       However, I must confess that for
               glass. The artists come from          scholarships. The galleries        me the true objective of these
               different fields: video, painting,    display their work at              projects, which are often
               photography, sculpture, and           international fairs like ARCO,     difficult, complex and involve a
               installation. They are artists with   ESTAMPA, MACO and at               lot of work, is to have that the
               successful careers whose works        Spanish contemporary art           artist become infatuated by
               can be seen in national and           museums. Among them there are      glass. Sylva Petrova told us in
               international museums. We             street artists like E1000 and      her great book Czech Glass
               proposed them to produce their        Pelucas, installers like Andrea    published in 2001:
               projects at the MAVA’s workshop,      Canepa, painters like Ana H. del
               getting involved in the process as    Amo, artists who work with         “It is well known that most of
               much as each of them would like.      objects such as Jorge Perianes,    the people who have developed
                                                     etc.                               their lives in artistic glass, have
               Some artists provided drawings or                                        come to it by accident. Glass
               models of their works, others         Working together for months at     has the special magic of
               made the molds for the                the MAVA’s workshop, they          attracting people who come
               thermoformed. A third group was       showed enormous enthusiasm         across it. A relationship between
               involved in a much more active        and interest in glass, a new       them is established for life, no
               way. They learned to make their       material that they had never       matter how much you are an
               own pieces, like the Madrid artist    worked with before.                artist, a researcher or a
               Esther Pizarro who molded                                                collector.”
               borosilicate glass with torch         Finally, I would like to
               assisted by Emilio Elvira, a          emphasize the importance           Today’s artists should wonder
               scientific blower from the            of the synergies that this kind    about the use of glass,
               Complutense University in Madrid.     of projects brings with them.      and think: why not?

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                              Itinéraire de Momignies. Musée Royal de Mariemont. © IRPA-KIK.

                                                      16

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

               Momignies,
               Beauwelz,
               Macquenoise:

             du verre
                  au rêve
               Retour sur 35 années de mystifications

                                                   Janette Lefrancq. Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire,
                                                   Bruxelles

               L’actuelle commune de               verre en raison des découvertes        1950, bien des professionnels de
               Momignies, constituée des           — extraordinaires — qui y étaient      l’archéologie et de l’histoire
               anciennes localités de Beauwelz,    faites et qui étaient toutes           nationale n’avaient pas manqué
               Macquenoise et Momignies, est       publiées par Raymond Chambon.          de dénoncer le caractère
               située dans le sud de la province   Doué d’un sens remarquable de la       invraisemblable des découvertes
               de Hainaut en Belgique, et          publicité, ce dernier était parvenu,   faites sur ce territoire.
               distante d’une vingtaine de Km au   en se créant un réseau
               Sud-est de Sars-Poteries.           international de correspondants,       La verrerie de Momignies
                                                   à faire reconnaître l’existence
               Depuis la Deuxième Guerre           d’hypothétiques verreries des          Il existe bien une verrerie à
               mondiale, ces trois villages ont    époques romaine, mérovingienne,        Momignies, spécialisée dans le
               bénéficié d’une notoriété           médiévale et Renaissance               flaconnage pour la parfumerie et
               particulière dans le domaine de     prétendument établies en ces           les cosmétiques. Fondée de
               l’archéologie et de l’histoire du   lieux. Pourtant, depuis les années     manière indépendante en 1898

                                                                                          17

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               par Justin Gillet, elle a prospéré         Genappe en Brabant ; Robert                pour la première fois des
               de manière exponentielle pendant           Colnet et Philippe Ferry                   documents originaux mettant en
               plus d’un siècle en se rattachant à        demeurant près de Namur ;                  lumière l’existence jusqu’alors
               de grands groupes industriels1.            Robert de Liège, Jean Ferry et             insoupçonnée, dans la région de
                                                          François Colnet demeurant à                Chimay, d’une fabrication de verre
               Depuis sa fondation en 1898, la            Fontaine-l’évêque, tous maîtres            à la façon de Venise, trente ans
               verrerie de Momignies compte               verriers ».                                avant l’établissement des premiers
               dans son personnel plusieurs                                                          verriers italiens à Anvers. Ces
               collaborateurs répondant au nom            Au XVIIIe siècle, cette appellation        documents, ignorés de tous les
               de Chambon : Achille, chef potier,         douteuse avait été décryptée               historiens, auraient selon lui
               ensuite ses fils Robert et Roland,         « Maumigne » et assimilée au               appartenu à des archives privées
               et bientôt Raymond Chambon né              XIXE siècle au village de                  ou seraient issus de ses propres
               en 1922, habitant la verrerie au           Momignies, à l’Ouest de Chimay.            fouilles. Il a ensuite publié une
               moins jusqu’en 1947 et devenu                                                         soixantaine d’articles relatifs à
               agent commercial des Verreries             A partir de ces deux éléments :            différents sujets touchant au
               mécaniques de Belgique.                    — l’existence d’une verrerie               verre, de l’époque romaine au XXe
                                                          fondée en 1898 et un texte                 siècle.
               Il est probable qu’Achille                 énonçant la probabilité d’une
               Chambon, déjà intéressé par                verrerie de forêt au XVIe siècle —,        Chambon fut également parmi les
               l’histoire locale, ait raconté à ses       Raymond Chambon a bâti une                 initiateurs de l’exposition Trois
               fils une histoire romancée de cette        véritable légende faisant de               millénaires d’art verrier et des
               verrerie qui les nourrissait, en lui       Momignies le centre du monde               premières Journées internationales
               inventant des origines très                verrier nord-occidental, sans              du Verre, tenues à Liège en 1958,
               anciennes et quasi-mythiques que           discontinuité depuis l’époque              à l’origine de l’AIHV, et sera
               Raymond s’est ensuite employé              romaine jusqu’au XXe siècle.               encore dans les années 1970, le
               sans relâche à documenter.                                                            fondateur et premier conservateur
                                                          Raymond Chambon                            de Musée du Verre de Charleroi,
               Il se basait pour cela sur des                                                        issu de sa propre collection, et le
               documents d’archives publiés dès           Né en 1922 et mort en 1976 à               conseiller de Louis Mairiaux
               18822, concernant les verreries de         54 ans, Chambon a le mérite                lorsque ce dernier s’engageait
               forêt de la famille Colnet ou              d’avoir publié en 1955 le premier          dans la fondation du musée du
               Colinet établies dans le Sud du            ouvrage de synthèse intitulé               verre de Sars-Poteries.
               Hainaut avant 1559 : « Nicolas et          l’Histoire de la verrerie en
               Adrien Colnet, demeurant à                 Belgique du IIe siècle à nos jours,        Il faut aussi citer son activité de
               Barbanson ; Paul Ferry et Jean             un livre monumental qui a fait             marchand : fournisseur attitré du
               Colnet demeurant à                         autorité pendant un demi-siècle,           château-fort d’Ecaussinnes-Lalaing
               Froidchapelle ; Enguerrand et              tant à l’étranger qu’en Belgique.          où sont réunies les anciennes
               François Colnet, demeurant à                                                          industries d’art du Hainaut, il y a
               Ma……..ge (ou Ma……..gne) en                 Dans cette excellente synthèse             vendu une importante collection de
               Hainaut ; Nicolas Colnet et                des écrits de ses prédécesseurs,           verrerie s’échelonnant du XVIe au
               Guillaume Ferry demeurant à                Chambon prétend aussi révéler              XXe siècle.

               1 Verreries réunies du Val-Saint-Lambert en 1953, Verlica (Empain-Schneider), Verlipack, Bouteilleries belges réunies vers
               1960, Nouvelles verreries de Momignies (Heinz) en 1985 ; elle dépend depuis 1997 du groupe Gerresheimer.
               2 A. Pinchart, Bulletin des Commissions Royales d’Art et d’Archéologie, 21, 1882, pp. 383-388, n. 3.

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               Raymond Chambon a surtout                      Schuermans y écrit en 1883          gallo-romains et les verres anciens
               accumulé un impressionnant                     une phrase inspirante pour le       à la façon de Venise, alors
               fonds de documentation relatif à               futur faussaire3 : « un moyen       partiellement exposés dans
               toute espèce de verre de Belgique,             de reconnaître la fabrication       quelques vitrines.
               fonds acheté à prix d’or à sa veuve            des Pays-Bas serait la
               par le Corning Museum of Glass,                découverte de quelque album         La Monstrance de Beauwelz
               vers 1980.                                     des profils ayant servi en nos
                                                              anciennes verreries… on             Toujours est-il qu’en 1943, en
               Raymond Chambon s’est intéressé                pourra[it] s’édifier de plus près   pleine guerre, alors qu’il n’a que
               très jeune à l’histoire locale ainsi           sur les types qui ont servi de      21 ans, il publie Deux verres
               qu’à l’histoire de la verrerie et              modèles à nos anciens               offerts à Charles Quint et à
               possédait une connaissance                     verriers ».                         Philippe II en 1549 6 . Il y dévoile
               approfondie des deux domaines ;                                                    pour la première fois un manuscrit
               on décèle dans ses écrits qu’il a           • La verrerie et ses artistes au       qu’il prétend avoir découvert par
               lu tous les grands classiques,                Pays de Liège, de Florent            hasard en 1941 : La Monstrance
               notamment :                                   Pholien, 1899.                       des biaux verres qui se font aux
                                                                                                  verries des franches villes de
               • Histoire du Pays de Chimay de             • Les deux articles d’Armand           Mommiegnies et de Biaulwelz,
                 Gustave Hagemans, publié en                 Baar : Evolution de la               paroisse dudit Mommiegnies, terre
                 1866 ; un ouvrage fantaisiste               fabrication du verre en              de Chimay en Hainault, plus
                 où l’auteur décrit de façon très            Belgique, particulièrement à         connue sous les appellations de
                 lyrique une visite fictive de               Anvers et à Liège du XVIe au         Monstrance de Beauwelz ou de
                 Charles-Quint à Chimay en                   XVIIIe siècle4 et Verrerie des       Catalogue Colinet.
                 1549, et sa découverte des                  Flandres, Fabrication
                 forges, un élément détourné                 anversoise5. Ces trois derniers      Ce manuscrit est alors présenté
                 par Chambon au profit de la                 ayant l’avantage d’être              comme un catalogue de la
                 visite de la verrerie de                    abondamment illustrés mais           production des Colnet ou Colinet
                 Beauwelz.                                   faisant, comme ceux de               dans leur fournaise de Beauwelz
                                                             Schuermans, la part trop belle       au XVIe s. Celui-ci multiplie les
               • Les 12 Lettres au Bulletin des              aux verreries d’Anvers et de         avantages d’illustrer un certain
                 Commissions royales d’Art et                Liège.                               nombre de modèles de verres de
                 d’Archéologie publiées par                                                       luxe à la vénitienne, de verres
                 Henri Schuermans, de 1879 à               Il a aussi utilisé de vieux manuels    ordinaires à l’allemande et de
                 1893 : un gros millier de                 comme ceux de Sauzay (1884) ou         bouteilles ; d’indiquer leur
                 pages qui constituent encore              de Gerspach (1885).                    appellation et les techniques
                 aujourd’hui la base de toute                                                     utilisées, de livrer une liste de
                 recherche sur le verre à la               Il a certainement visité, avant la     clients, mais surtout d’entrer en
                 façon de Venise de Belgique,              guerre de 1940-1945, les Musées        matière par l’illustration et la
                 mais qui sont totalement                  Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire dont il     description de deux pièces
                 dépourvues d’illustrations.               connaissait parfaitement les verres    extraordinaires offertes

               3   Bulletin des Commissions Royales d’Art et d’Archéologie, 22, 1883, p. 159.
               4   Annales de la Fédération Historique de Belgique, 29, 1932, pp. 264-272.
               5   Revue Belge d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’Art, 8, 1938, pp. 211-240.
               6   Apollo Chronique des Arts, (Bruxelles), 21, pp. 14-16.

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               personnellement à Charles-Quint            de l’ancienneté de la Monstrance            lors du 17e colloque de l’AIHV à
               et au futur Philippe II lors de leur       est A.-E. Theuerkauff-Liederwald,           Anvers en 200611.
               prétendue visite au four de                en 1968 : la Monstrance, censée
               Beauwelz en 1549. Relevons                 dater du XVIe siècle illustre un            Chantal Fontaine avait remarqué
               principalement une nef en verre            roemer qui ne peut pas être                 que les dessins illustrant la
               longue de 1,25 m, remplie de               antérieur à l’extrême fin du                Monstrance de Beauwelz et la
               personnages et d’animaux, dont             XVIIIe s.9.                                 Copie (en 4e main) du Journal
               on trouve la source d’inspiration                                                      d’Amandt Colinet étaient si
               dans la Nef de Charles-Quint, une          Il faut néanmoins attendre la fin           ressemblants qu’ils ne
               pièce d’orfèvrerie automate d’un           des années 1990 pour que le                 pouvaient avoir été exécutés
               mètre de long7.                            Musée de Corning, entame une                que par une même main, donc
                                                          recherche scientifique visant à             que monstrance et copie du
               La plupart des historiens du verre         déterminer la falsification du              journal étaient contemporains.
               les plus réputés ont cru à                 manuscrit. C’est Jutta Page, alors          J’ai ensuite pu démontrer que,
               l’authenticité de ce document et y         conservatrice des verres                    bien que volontairement
               ont souvent eu recours pour                européens, qui se charge de                 déformée, l’écriture de la Copie
               appuyer l’une ou l’autre thèse,            l’étude ; ses résultats sont                du Journal était exactement la
               argumenter une terminologie ou             présentés en 1998 à Anvers et               même que celle d’une lettre
               une chronologie8. Il semble                publiés en 200210. J. Page                  autographe écrite par Chambon
               cependant qu’en Belgique, la               conclut que le manuscrit est une            en 1947. Raymond Chambon
               Monstrance ait assez tôt rencontré         copie maladroite ou un montage              était donc l’auteur et le
               des détracteurs puisque Chambon            d’antiquaire du XIXe siècle car,            réalisateur de la Monstrance, de
               s’est empressé de découvrir des            selon les échos recueillis auprès           la Copie du Journal d’Amand
               soi-disant preuves de son                  de ses correspondants américains,           Colinet et de la Requête au
               authenticité dans la copie de deux         Chambon serait un homme                     Prince de Chimay !
               autres manuscrits : le Journal             parfaitement intègre, charmant et
               d’Amandt Colinet et la Requête au          totalement incapable de la                  L’Itinéraire de Momignies
               prince de Chimay, signalés dès             moindre malhonnêteté ; il se
               1955 dans son Histoire de la               serait donc laissé abuser.                  En 1947, Chambon annonce la
               Verrerie en Belgique. Mais, afin de                                                    découverte d’une dalle de terre
               compliquer les choses, il les              La perception qu’on en a en                 cuite reproduisant le tracé des
               présente comme des copies                  Belgique est cependant assez                voies romaines de Marseille à
               en 4e main.                                différente puisqu’on le sait lié à la       Bavay et de Boulogne à Trêves
                                                          découverte d’un certain nombre              avec les noms des principales
               La première personne qui émette            d’autres documents des plus                 villes de Gaule connues par la
               publiquement des doutes à propos           douteux que j’ai passés en revue            Tabula Peutingeriana et l’Itinéraire

               7 Musée National de la Renaissance à Ecouen, Inv. E.Cl. 2739.
               8 Notamment : J. Barrelet, 1954 ; B. Klesse, 1963 ; D. Harden, e.a., 1968 ; R. Charleston, 1977 ; H. Tait, 1979 ; O.
               Drahotová, 1983 ; L. Engen, e.a., 1989, etc.
               9 A.-E. Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Der Römer, Studien zu einer Glasform, Journal of Glass Studies, 10, 1968, pp. 121-123.
               10 J.-A. Page, The ‘Catalogue Colinet’: a mid-16th century manuscript? dans J. Veeckmann, dir., Majolica and Glass from Italy
               to Antwerp and Beyond, Anvers, 2002, pp. 243-262.
               11 J. Lefrancq, Apports et incidences de l’œuvre de Raymond Chambon sur l’histoire de la verrerie en Belgique, Annales du
               17e congrès de l’Association Internationale d’Histoire du Verre, Anvers, 2009, pp. 339-343.

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                                                                                                        raisin, considérées comme des
                                                                                                        chefs-d’œuvre de la verrerie
                                                                                                        antique15. Cet objet à la cavité
                                                                                                        trop réduite pour constituer un
                                                                                                        élément de moule bivalve, et
                                                                                                        pourvu de canaux semblables à
                                                                                                        ceux des moules de fonte oppose
                                                                                                        rapidement Chambon aux milieux
                                                                                                        de l’archéologie professionnelle.

                                                                                                        Après sa mort, une analyse par
                                                                                                        thermoluminescence commandée
                 Itinéraire de Momignies. Musée Royal de Mariemont. Détail des chaussées                par le Musée de Charleroi à
                 Bavay-Cologne et Bavay-Trêves. © IRPA-KIK.                                             l’université de Bordeaux-Talence
                                                                                                        établit la modernité du prétendu
               d’Antonin. Il s’agirait, selon lui, de      voire à une mystification pure et            moule en situant sa fabrication
               la copie d’une pierre antique,              simple et est suivi en cela par              dans les années 1890-1930. Les
               destinée aux rouliers transportant          plusieurs archéologues belges.               nouvelles analyses menées à
               de Méditerranée jusqu’en                                                                 l’Institut Royal du Patrimoine
               Thiérache la soude indispensable            Une analyse par                              Artistique établissent aujourd’hui
               à la fabrication du verre.                  thermoluminescence effectuée à               qu’il s’agit d’un faux absolu16.
                                                           Oxford à la demande d’Albert
               Bien qu’ayant aussitôt exprimé              Deman situe la cuisson entre                 Les verreries forestières du Pays
               ses doutes parce que l’Itinéraire           1500 et 1650, une date                       de Chimay
               respecte l’orientation et les               difficilement crédible selon
               proportions géographiques,                  l’auteur14.                                  Confronté aux critiques du monde
               ignorées dans l’Antiquité,                                                               archéologique, Chambon publie,
               Germaine Faider-Feytmans achète             Le moule de grappe de                        en 1959, Les verreries forestières
               la pièce pour le Musée de                   Macquenoise                                  du Pays de Chimay du XIIe au
               Mariemont12.                                                                             XVIIIe siècle d’après les
                                                           En 1950, Chambon déclare avoir               documents d’archives17.
               Paul Lebel en fait ensuite une              trouvé vers 1942-43, dans la forêt
               violente critique, basée sur la             de Macquenoise, un objet en terre            Il y présente une série de
               réalisation, la cuisson et                  cuite qu’il interprète comme un              documents, textes et plans,
               l’épigraphie de la dalle13. Il              moule ayant servi à souffler les             attestant selon lui de l’existence
               conclut à une blague d’étudiants,           fioles en forme de grappe de                 ininterrompue de fours de verriers

               12 G. F[aider]-F[eytmans], Archéologie, l’Antiquité Classique, 18, 1949, pp. 135-136.
               13 P. Lebel, La carte routière de Momignies (Belgique), un original antique ou un faux moderne ? Revue Archéologique de l’Est
               et du Centre-Est, 3, 1952, pp. 43-51.
               14 A. Deman, M.-Th. Raepsaet-charlier, Les Inscriptions Latines de Belgique (ILB) 1985.
               15 Cf. les exemplaires trouvés en fouille dans des tumuli romains à Fresin/Vorsen (MRAH, Bruxelles) et à Heerlen (Musée de Leyde).
               16 Ch. Fontaine-Hodiamont, R. Margos, M. Van Bos, L. Fontaine, Du vrai au faux, Pour en finir avec le moule à grappe « gallo-
               romain » de Macquenoise, Bulletin de l’Association Française pour l’Archéologie du Verre, 2020 à paraître.
               17 Publications de la Société d’Histoire régionale de Rance, 4, 1959-60, pp. 111-180.

                                                                                                        21

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               dans cette zone géographique. Il              1594 et gravé des armes et d’une
               prétend avoir vu ces documents                devise des Croÿ, princes de
               aux Archives de l’Etat à Mons                 Chimay et propriétaires du
               avant le bombardement qui a                   Château d’Ecaussinnes au XVIe s.
               anéanti une partie du bâtiment et             Le but mercantile est ici évident :
               des fonds en mai 194018.                      verre façon de Venise à la potasse
               Ailleurs, il annonce qu’il                    de fougère, armoiries liées à
               argumentera sa démonstration                  Chimay et à Ecaussinnes ; on peut
               dans un second article … qui                  s’interroger sur le prix alors exigé
               n’est jamais paru !                           pour un monument d’apparence
                                                             tellement probante !
               Maintenant que les Archives de
               Mons sont à nouveau accessibles,              Chambon fait donc très tôt figure
               Benoît Painchart, a                           de cas d’école : amoureux de son
               systématiquement vérifié toute                Pays de Chimay dont il cherche à
               l’histoire des Colnet. L’ensemble             dorer l’image, selon les uns il
               de son étude fait apparaître                  passe pour un mythomane qui,
               qu’aucun des documents                        afin de servir sa cause, se                 Petit roemer en verre clair. Château
               présentés par Chambon n’a jamais                                                          d’Écaussinnes-Lalaing. Détail de la
               existé19 ! Toute l’histoire des                                                           devise « OV QVE SOIT CROŸ
               verreries anciennes de la région de                                                       1594 ». © IRPA-KIK.
               Chimay est donc le fruit de son
               imagination !

               Les gravures récentes sur verres
               anciens

               Lorsque vers 2000, j’étudiais les
               verres anciens du Château
               d’Ecaussinnes, pour la plupart
               vendus par Chambon dans les
               années 1960, j’y avais dénombré
               9 verres anciens, d’époques et
               d’origines différentes,
               médiocrement gravés au XXe
               siècle dans le but de faire croire à
               une fabrication de Beauwelz. Le
                                                              Petit roemer en verre clair, fin XVIIe-    Petit roemer en verre clair. Château
               plus significatif est un petit                                                            d’Écaussinnes-Lalaing. Détail des
                                                              XVIIIe s. Château d’Écaussinnes-
               roemer en verre clair d’une forme              Lalaing. © IRPA-KIK.                       armoiries Croÿ. © IRPA-KIK.
               tardive (fin XVIIe-XVIIIe s.), daté

               18    Alors qu’il n’avait pas 18 ans !
               19 B. Painchart, L’activité verrière des Colinet au Sart de Chimay, XIIIe-XVIIIe siècles, Eclats de Verre, 21, 2013, pp. 60-67 ;
               22, 2013, pp. 34-46 ; 23, 2014, pp. 8-16 ; 24, 2014, pp. 19-31 ; 25, 2015, pp. 18-27 ; 26, 2015, pp. 8-18 ;
               particulièrement 22, 2013, pp. 34-46.

                                                        22

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

               transforme en faussaire ; pour            disculpent complètement de toute
               d’autres, type même de l’amateur          malversation, avançant
               local, il se laisse naïvement             uniquement sa naïveté.
               tromper par les plus grossières
               falsifications pour peu qu’elles          Les verres falsifiés conservés au
               intéressent sa région. En raison de       Musée de Charleroi
               sa gentillesse, de son travail
               acharné et de ses qualités                Le plus aberrent est que même le
               d’historien local, le bénéfice du         Musée du Verre de Charleroi, dont
               doute lui est accordé par d’aucuns        il est l’initiateur, et qui recèle des
               et il finit par être considéré            pièces tout à fait remarquables,
               comme un aimable benêt.                   conserve aussi des pièces
                                                         dénaturées conçues pour
               Depuis les années 2000, de                démontrer l’existence de verreries
               nouvelles études démontrent               anciennes dans la région de                Gobelet romain du Ier siècle.
               cependant que les nombreux faux           Chimay, mais aussi de Charleroi.           Musée du Verre de Charleroi. Fond
               présents dans sa collection ne se                                                    gravé d’un chrisme. © IRPA-KIK.
               rapportent pas uniquement à la            Des verres antiques falsifiés y ont
               région de Chimay.                         notamment été repérés, comme ce
                                                                                                   gobelet découvert et publié par
               Le catalogue de la verrerie Zoude                                                   Chantal Fontaine : un verre du Ier
               de Namur                                                                            siècle, grossièrement gravé de
                                                                                                   scènes chrétiennes copiées de la
               Cet autre catalogue manuscrit                                                       Coupe d’Homblières, célèbre objet
               datant prétendument de 1762,                                                        paléochrétien du IVe siècle
               également arrivé à Corning avec                                                     découvert dans la région de l’Aisne
               l’ensemble du fonds documentaire                                                    et conservé au Musée du Louvre21.
               de Chambon, présentait une
               origine assez obscure pour être                                                     Conclusion
               analysé. Publiées en 2007 par
               Watts et Tait, les conclusions sont                                                 Un esprit régionaliste poussé à
               sans appel : il s’agit d’un faux                                                    l’extrême, dit esprit de clocher, la
               grossièrement réalisé, en 2                                                         recherche de satisfaction d’une
               exemplaires suivant le même                                                         vanité personnelle, un certain
               processus que la Monstrance de                                                      mercantilisme, ont poussé
               Beauwelz et le Journal d’Amandt                                                     Chambon à donner à ses rêves
               Colinet20. Mais en raison de la            Gobelet romain du Ier siècle.            une apparence de réalité ; malgré
                                                          Musée du Verre de Charleroi.
               relation de confiance que                                                           son aspect matériel, celle-ci ne
                                                          Gravure inspirée de la coupe
               Chambon avait anciennement                 d’Homblières. © IRPA-KIK.                résiste plus aujourd’hui à une
               établie avec Tait, les auteurs le                                                   analyse sérieuse.

               20 D. C. Watts, H. Tait, Assessing the Authenticity of the Putative Sebastien Zoude Catalogue of 1762, Journal of Glass
               Studies, 49, 2007, pp. 153-178.
               21 Ch. Fontaine-Hodiamont, H. Wouters, Deux verres d’époque romaine, falsifiés par une gravure moderne. Un héritage de
               Raymond Chambon, Bulletin de l’Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, 33, 2009-2012, pp. 29-50.

                                                                                                    23

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LECTURES

               Glass in the Celje
               Region from the 18 Century                                                      th
                                                           to the Present
               Jože Rataj. Celje Regional             Research into the glassmaking        but they were not writing
                                                      tradition in our part of the world   specifically about glassmaking.
               Museum                                 did not begin until the              Instead, they touched on glass in
                                                      nineteenth century, with the         connection with forestry, through
                                                      development of the domestic          accounts of their travels or
                                                      glassmaking industry. Numerous       geographical sketches of the
                                                      authors addressed the subject,       area. One example is the diary

                 Postcard Loka pri Žusmu, around 1900. © Archive Celje Regional Museum.

                                                24

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REVIEWS ON GLASS Nº 7 2019

               kept by Archduke Johann of
               Styria from 1810-1812, who got
               to know the glassworks in the
               surrounding forests during his
               visits to the spa at Rogaška
               Slatina.1 This was followed by a
               series of articles by Rudolf
               Gustav Puff, Johann Gabriel
               Seidl and Gustav Mally withthe
               first encyclopaedic editions that
               mention our lands. One of these
               was Topographical Lexicon of
               Styria by Carl Schmutz,2 the first
               work of its kind since the
               completion of the Josephinian
               Land Survey in the second half
               of the eighteenth century.3 After         Man cutters at work in the Rogaška glassworks, mid-20th century. © Archive
                                                         Celje Regional Museum.
               this Georg Göth published an
               extensive questionnaire that
               collected data through a series
               of special forms.4 A number of
               contemporary newspapers also
               began publishing news on
               economic activity and local
               events, where information about
               glassworks and glassworkers is
               recorded. Some notable
               newspapers included the
               Steiermärkische Zeitschrift,
               Carinthia and Industrie- und
               Gewerbeblatt. These were joined
               in the second half of the
               nineteenth century by Slovene-
               language newspapers such as
               Slovenski gospodar, and Slovenec.
               Another important source are
                                                         Children at work in the Hrastnik glassworks, 1920. © Archive Celje Regional
               reports on the provincial                 Museum.
               exhibitions that began to be held

               1 Schlossar, Anton, Erzherzog Johanns Tagesbuchaufzeichnungen von seinem Aufenthalte im Kurorte Rohitsch Sauerbrunn
               und über seine Reisen in Untersteiermark aus den Jahren 1810, 1811 und 1812, Graz, Leykam, 1912.
               2 Schmutz, Carl, Historisch-Topographisches Lexikon von Steiermark mit historischen Notizen und Anmerkungen, Graz, 1823.
               3 Josephinische Landesaufnahme 1763-1787 für das Gebiet der Republik Slowenien, Landesbeschreibung, 5. zvezek, ZRC
               SAZU in Arhiv Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, 1999.
               4 Kuret, Niko, Slovensko Štajersko pred marčno revolucijo 1848.

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