Getty Museum

Prunted Beaker

Date

16th century

Medium

Free-blown dark blue-green glass with applied decoration

Culture

German

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

This beaker is made of *Waldglas*, or forest glass, so called because it was produced in forest workshops where there were plentiful supplies of wood fuel for the glass furnaces. The characteristic green color of most *Waldglas* was caused by iron-rich impurities in the local sand, the major ingredient of glass. Because of the popularity and aesthetic appeal of forest glass, German glassmakers continued to make it even after they were capable of producing colorless glass. The Getty Museum's glass is unusual not only for its large size but also for the great number and density of its applied prunts or blobs of glass. These may have provided the drinker with a secure grip, even with the greasy hands that resulted from eating without utensils.

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