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In Sparkling Company: Glass and the Costs of Social Life in Britain During the 1700s: Social Life -- Selected Reading

May 22, 2021 – January 2, 2022, Changing Exhibitions Gallery, The Corning Museum of Glass

 

Selected Reading List from In Sparkling Company

 

Most of the titles below appear as selected reading in the book In Sparkling Company: Reflections on Glass in the 18th-Century British World, which accompanies the "In Sparkling Company" exhibition at The Corning Museum of Glass.

Additional Reading on 18th-Century Social Life in Britain

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Book cover

Purchase your copy of In Sparkling Company: Reflections on Glass in the 18th-Century British World today.

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Check out the In Sparkling Company merchandise in The Shops at The Corning Museum of Glass. Need help? Contact The Shops online or call 800-723-9156.

Book cover

Book: Robert Adam

By Jeremy Musson. Foreword: Sir Simon Jenkins, Photographs: Paul Barker.

Rectangular box with image of Vauxhall Gardens on front. Five puzzle pieces next to box.

Puzzle: Vauxhall Gardens

A View of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, London, 1751. Private Collection. Courtesy of David Coke. 100 pieces.

A View of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, London, 1751.

Mug: Vauxhall Gardens

A View of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, London, 1751. Private Collection. Courtesy of David Coke.

A View of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, London, 1751, printed on a rectangular magnet and also on a bookmark.

Magnet & Bookmark Set: Vauxhall Gardens

A View of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, London, 1751. Private Collection. Courtesy of David Coke.

Set of Green Vases with Gilded Figures. The golden figures on these vases are dressed in fanciful rustic costume,

Print: Set of Green Vases

Set of Green Vases with Gilded Figures. Probably decorated in the London workshop of James Giles, about 1765. 11 x 14 inches.

Two girandoles side by side. The brilliant cut-glass arms and pendants on these girandoles were designed to catch the light and sparkle just like precious diamonds.

Print: Pair of Girandoles

Pair of Girandoles, about 1785. In the 1700s, London became the center of the diamond trade in Europe. 11 x 14 inches.

Pair of earrings with colored glass

Print: Pair of Earrings

Pair of Earrings with Colored Glass "Jewels", about 1760. 14 x 11 inches.

Design for the end wall of the drawing room at Northumberland House, London. Room was paneled in spangled red glass and mirrors.

Magnet & Bookmark Set: Northumberland House

Design for the end wall of the drawing room at Northumberland House, London. Robert Adam, London, 1770-1773. © Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photography by Ardon Bar Hama.

Journal: Northumberland House

Design for the end wall of the drawing room at Northumberland House, London. Robert Adam, London, 1770-1773. © Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photography by Ardon Bar Hama. Unlined. 6 x 8.5 inches.

Man's Coat with glass 'jewels'.

Magnet & Bookmark Set: Man's Coat

Man's Coat with glass 'jewels'. France, about 1780. Courtesy of the Fashion Museum Bath.

Journal: Man's Coat

Man's Coat with glass "jewels." France, about 1780. Courtesy of the Fashion Museum Bath. 6 x 8.5 inches.

Rectangular box with image of painting of Mary Little, dressed in a silk gown with a glass ornament in her hair. Four puzzle pieces are next to the box.

Puzzle: Lady Mary

Mary Little, later Lady Carr. Thomas Gainsborough, England about 1765. Yale Center for British Art. Bequest of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham. 100 pieces.

Rectangular magnet and bookmark featuring image of 23-year-old Mary Little dressed in a silk gown with a glass ornament in her hair.

Magnet & Bookmark Set: Lady Mary Little

Mary Little, later Lady Carr. Thomas Gainsborough, England about 1765. Yale Center for British Art. Bequest of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham.

Journal with image of 23-year-old Mary Little dressed in a silk gown with a glass ornament in her hair on cover.

Journal: Lady Mary Little

Mary Little, later Lady Carr. Thomas Gainsborough, England about 1765. Yale Center for British Art. Bequest of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham. 6 x 8.5 inches.

Round hand mirror featuring closeup of a woman's hand holding flowers

Hand Mirror: Lady Mary

Mary Little, later Lady Carr. Thomas Gainsborough, England about 1765. Yale Center for British Art. Bequest of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham. 2.25 inches, round.

Image of 4 note cards, featuring a pair of earrings, a mirror in a gilded wood frame, a set of green vases featuring gilded figures, and a pair of girandoles with arms and pendants.

Notecards: In Sparkling Company

4 cards, 2 of each design. 5.5 x 4.25 inches.

Notecard box with portrait of Mary Little on cover and 4 notecards including Mary Little portrait, a design for the end wall of Northumberland House, a view of the Temple of Comus at Vauxhall Gardens, and a man's coat with

Notecards: In Sparkling Company

4 cards, 2 of each design. 5.5 x 4.25 inches.

Coaster case with image of close-up of man's coat with jewels and four coasters with close-up images of objects in exhibition.

Coasters: In Sparkling Company

Includes one of each design.