Assessment of the Portland Vase
Spring 2024, written by Luxe Aurano.
A Critical Analysis on a Museum Object: The Portland Vase.
Introduction
It is important to note that the origins of the museum stems from different ideas from a range of individuals. With structures from cabinet of curiosities, elite private collections, to world fairs, the set up of a museum has changed over time, as well as its meaning. The modern meaning of a museum is always being updated when needed, but can be defined currently by the International Council of Museums as, “A not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”. With this modern definition of a museum, institutions were not always driven by inclusive and thoughtful practices as they are now. The definition is always improving, and this can be due to the intention of epistemology, which is branch of philosophy that is driven by the reality of knowledge, specifically its connection with beliefs and its origins. This can then be connected to coloniality and its associations with managing ideas and knowledge, social mistreatment, and to its extreme can reach an ability to minimize or completely dismiss beliefs and ideas. While coloniality is to be considered an extreme oppression in the 21st century, and is understood to be something to grow and learn from, the reality of it is written in many cultural histories around the world.
The British Museum is most notable for being the first national public museum in the world. It was founded in 1753, and was made open to the public in 1759. What is so characteristic about this museum is that it includes many objects and subjects from all types of human knowledge as its entirety. It is also needed to note that the museum has a difficult past that has relation to colonialism based on its original ways of acquiring many of its objects and collections. It is then stated in the conflict section of the museum’s collecting histories page, “The British Museum acknowledges the difficult histories of some of its collections, including the contested means by which some collections have been acquired such as through military action and its consequences.”. The museum claims that they recognize its difficult history, and their modern approach to dissecting their past acquisition standards in a way that respects the global inclusion of the collected cultures through worldly partnership. Through the museums extensive collection of over 80,000 objects, it is understandable that this institution holds many unique artifacts of multiple histories of the world, and results in being a well trusted place for research and preservation. And currently, The British Museum keeps recent acquisitions public, with a detailing on how the object was acquired with transparency. Within the museum’s collection, specifically within the Greek and Roman department, lies an Ancient Roman Vessel titled, The Portland Vase, and this artifact will be the focus of this museum object assessment.
Description of Object
The Portland Vase is an object of Roman antiquity, and is made entirely of cameo glass. Created by the Romans, cameo glass was produced in the 1st century CE. The process starts with blowing two layers of glass together. When observing the object, there are two layers to its display. The first layer is the base, which is the initial structure. As seen on The Portland Vase, this would be the darkened blue glass. The object is amphora shaped, which defines it with a open narrow neck with two handles, transitioning to a larger oval shape as its base. This can be created through a blowing glass process. During the ancient roman times, the initial process of blowing glass was done by blowing a bubble into molten glass. The glass was then placed into a mold, which was then blown once more to fill the mold, resulting in the desired structure and design to being fully formed. Once molded, the glass is then placed into a heated furnace to shape further. This process of placing and removing the object from the furnace is repeated until the shape is finalized and perfected. Additional molten glass can then be added to the structure to create functional use, such as the seen handles that are mirrored on both sides of The Portland Vase; this adds on to the dual function of carrying the object in a certain way, and for creative design aspects.
Although, The Portland Vase only uses partial elements of the initial Ancient Roman glass blowing process. Blown glass using molds would usually show seams in which the molds were connected, and The Portland Vase does not have any visible seams from observation. It can be concluded that the vase was blown without the use of any mold, but instead was blown with the second layer–the opaque white glass–over the initial darkened blue glass, creating one complete structure. As mentioned by Britannica, “When the glass has cooled, a rough outline of the desired design is drawn on its surface and covered with a protective coating of beeswax.”. Following this, the opaque white glass area was then hand etched and carved, not only revealing the inner layer, but also leaving a finalized detailed design of the initial draft. This results in the layered and three-dimensional design that makes up The Portland Vase.
Under each handle of The Portland Vase, a horned bearded creature is placed. Between the two creatures on one side of the vase is a scene filled with what seems to be stacked slabs of what can presumably be marble. This creates a seating area for the three individuals in this image. From the left, a seated man leans on his left arm and looks towards the right of the vase in view of two other women. The middle women is positioned in a near-laying down position, also leaning on her left arm, while her right arm is placed and rested upon her head. Then the last women is seated in an upright position looking to the left of the vase where the first two remain, resting her body weight on her right stiffened arm, and her left harm is holding up a staff of sorts. Within the picture, there is also a column residing immediately to the left of the previously mentioned man, as well as a minimal tree in the background.
On the other side of The Portland Vase, there lies a total of 5 characters. The first is a man to the left, walking out of a ruin structure. His right hand holds onto a draped fabric that is tied around the structure, while he is in a mid walking stance with his left hand reaching for the woman in the center. The woman is seated on the ground, and set in between the first man, and a serpent that seems to be coming from the ground; she caresses both characters, her right hand on the man, and the left hand upon the snake. The fourth individual is another man who is placed to the right of the scene, in a pose where his right leg is rested upon a tree stump, and he leans over, resting his head upon his right arm in interest. He seems to be observing the interaction between the first two individuals and the snake. His left arm is wrapped with a draped fabric, and is rested behind his back. The last character is floating above the scene, and this can be identified as Cupid, the Roman God of love. As described by Britannica in regards to Cupid, “He often appeared as a winged infant carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows whose wounds inspired love or passion in his every victim.”. With this description, it correlates to the flying infant being portrayed in the vase. The side of the vase can be interpreted to the idea that perhaps Cupid is watching over his next victims, planning to influence them with love or passion.
Biography
The Portland Vase was said to have been found in the Monte del Grano, which is a term referring, “to the mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus and his family.”. There was a gap in information for the object over time, but the first mention of the Vase was through the French antiquarian, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. He was the first individual to make note of the Portland Vase when he saw it in Rome, within the collection of Cardinal del Monte in 1601. After the death of the cardinal in 1626, the Vase then made its way to the ownership of Cardinal Francesco Barberini’s brother, Antonio Barberini. The brothers were apart of the most influential family on Rome, which then transitioned the Vase–named the Barberini Vase at the time–to be apart of one of the most sought out art collections. After 150 year of the Barberini Vase being in the family collection, the collection itself was forced to be sold off by Donna Cordelia Barberini–Colonna in 1780, due to the family’s decline in wealth. The Vase was then purchased from James Byres by Sir William Hamilton. Hamilton was a British Diplomat, and when he crossed paths with Byres in Rome, his reaction to the Vase was quite influential, as he could not leave Rome without purchasing it. After the transaction of the Vase was finished, Hamilton made his way back to England in 1738, along with other antiquities from Rome, with the intention to sell them.
Hamilton then crossed paths with the Duchess of Portland. She had an intense interest to vases, thus Hamilton assumed she would be the perfect person to sell the Roman vase to. After the negotiations of the purchase was finalized in January of 1784, the vase alongside some other antiquities were transferred to the Duchess’ collection. A little over a year of taking ownership of the vase, the Duchess had past away in July of 1784. Following this, the Portland collection was then sold off over a span of 6 weeks, with the Vase not being able to sell until the last day of the sale. It was then purchased by the 3rd Duke of Portland. While under the possession of the Duke, Josiah Wedgewood requested to borrow the vase with the intention to replicate it in 1786, in which the first replica was done in black, and the second was done in lighter blue–both were replicated in jasperware. Jasperware was a new type of pottery process that was introduced by Wedgewood in 1775.
Following in 1810, the Duke looked to the British Museum to house the object for safety, which then went on display. While on display, thirty-five years later, the Vase was then smashed by a man named William Lloyd in 1845. This incident had caused more attraction to the object, and was restored for the first time by John Doubleday. The British Museum then purchased the Vase and became part of the museum’s permanent collection. The vase went through a second restoration in 1989, done by Nigel Williams (Information for this section was summarized based on research provided by the British Museum: “Object: The Portland Vase”).
Critical Discussion on Value & Function Over Time
While the object of antiquity has lasted the test of time, its influence on society is constantly evolving. As it was said to initially be found in the Monte del Grano, the connection to the Roman Emperor Alexander Serverus and his family sets a tone for royalty. It is noted in the curator’s comment section of the object analysis provided by The British Museum, that the vase could have been possibly used as an urn for the Roman emperor, but this was never proven. The object itself was just found in the royal mausoleum, perhaps as a treasure of sorts. Throughout time, it is notable to point out that the object had usually remained under imperial ownership. This aspect concludes that its craft and design elements were so unique and attracting for its time, it became a treasure that was well prized. This could also be influenced by the royal families that were tied to the object such as its ties with the location of its initial findings, the transition into ownership for the Barberini family, to the involvement with the Portland collection. And while under the ownership of these aristocratic families, The Portland Vase became a symbol of wealth and fine art. With these high society perspectives finding appeal in The Portland Vase, it only added to its attraction from those in lower social classes. It has been used for aesthetic purposes, research on design choices, and appreciation since.
Conclusion
Circling back to the reality of The British Museum and their initial unethical practices of obtaining objects from the world, it could be said that The Portland Vase was ethically obtained for the museum. After the initial safekeeping on loan by 3rd Duke of Portland, the Museum purchased the object completely in 1945. While currently being on display within the museum, the transparency for the history of this object is stated through their online collection. Combining the research from The British Museum, alongside extended research on the object, The Portland Vase is an object of exponential craftsmanship and influence on history. The object’s initial creation has shown extreme creative design elements from ancient Rome, that proved to be unique and inspiring, and has allowed a cultural analysis on its construction defining Roman antiquity. While The Portland Vase can be concluded to have influence from imperialism–in regards to his historic transfer of ownership–the object itself is impactful when defining Ancient Rome. Connecting its history with those in power, The Portland Vase is a historic object that is extremely sought out, but holds great importance in the history of The British Museum, their conservation practices, and redefining the meaning of such an institution in modern times.
Sources:
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cameo glass". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 May. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/art/cameo-glass
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Cupid". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cupid
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "jasperware". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Mar. 2012, https://www.britannica.com/art/jasperware
- “Collecting Histories.” The British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/collecting-histories
- “LaunchPad: Ancient Glassmaking–The Roman Mold-Blown Technique.” YouTube, uploaded by The Art Institute of Chicago, 16 April, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlrI6TFO-DI&t=56s
- “Museum Definition.” International Council of Museums, https://icom.museum/en/resources/standards-guidelines/museum-definition/
- “Monte del Grano.” The British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x112497
- “Object: The Portland Vase.” The British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1945-0927-1
- “The Portland Vase - An Enigma in Glass.” YouTube, uploaded by History West Midlands, 19 March, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GccdpXZKMUo
