Tumbler

Cut glass was introduced to Japan in the early nineteenth century, with the roots of Tokyo’s cut-glass production closely linked to the UK. Although cut glass first appeared in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in the 1830s, it was not until the 1880s that the craft was developed into an intricate and sophisticated practice under the direction of the British glass-cutting engineer Emmanuel Hauptmann (1848-1924). Hauptmann was hired by the Japanese government for the Shinagawa Glass Factory, which adopted Western-style manufacturing technology. This collection of cut-glass tumblers offers an opportunity to explore Asian Art Deco from the early Shōwa period (1926–89), when Japan’s domestic art and aesth

Tumbler · Japan · 1930s. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.