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Object Overview
This mid-18th-century Liège weather glass was widely produced in the Belgian city of Liège and its surrounding region, where a flourishing glass industry had already been established by around 1640. Glassmakers of the Liège region were renowned for their innovations in glass-melting technologies and for the creation of complex and refined objects. The traditions of glassblowing in Liège date back to the 16th century, and local glass was celebrated for its exceptional clarity and purity. Produced at high temperatures using sophisticated melting techniques, it was both durable and resistant to temperature fluctuations. Liège craftsmen possessed the skills required to create intricate forms and decorative elements, enabling the manufacture of weather glasses with precise and aesthetically refined details, such as finely articulated glass scales composed of applied droplets arranged along the spout. Each object was not merely an instrument, but a work of art reflecting the technical mastery and creative ingenuity of its makers.
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The present Liège weather glass is a striking example of the fusion of functional meteorological instrumentation with decorative glass art. The instrument is made of clear glass with a faint pale-green tint — a natural result of the glass composition and the melting techniques of its time. This “living” hue lends the object depth while simultaneously underscoring the high level of artisanal craftsmanship.
The body has an elongated, bottle-shaped profile with gently swelling sides, transitioning into a curved spout that closely follows the contour of the vessel before rising upward. The reservoir is adorned with characteristic hanekam decoration — so-called “cockscomb” ornaments — consisting of rhythmically arranged glass droplets applied along the sides of the body. These droplets create a pronounced relief and lend the surface a lively play of light. The decoration was executed by hand through the successive application of molten glass drops, clearly indicating the object’s artisanal origin.
At the upper part of the body, an elegant glass suspension loop is formed for wall mounting, likewise embellished with small “cockscomb” elements that visually echo the decoration of the reservoir. This solution emphasizes the unity of the construction and reflects the maker’s intention to preserve the purity of the all-glass form. The lower part of the instrument terminates in a drop-shaped glass thickening. Taken together, the form and decoration convey the impression not only of a utilitarian device, but of an interior object with pronounced artistic presence.
Like other weather glasses of this type, the instrument is designed to observe changes in atmospheric pressure. The reservoir was partially filled with water, while a sealed volume of air remained trapped inside. When the liquid levels in the reservoir and the spout are equal, the internal pressure corresponds to the external atmospheric pressure, which is taken to represent normal conditions. As atmospheric pressure rises, the water level in the spout falls; when pressure decreases, the level in the spout rises. The water level in the reservoir itself changes only minimally, as the cross-sectional area of the vessel exceeds that of the spout by a factor of fifty or more. In the event of a significant pressure drop preceding a storm, the water may rise high enough to spill over the edge of the spout, producing a dramatic and easily interpreted visual effect. It is quite possible that this very phenomenon gave rise to the expression “a storm in a teacup.”
This example represents an instrument in which functional sensitivity to atmospheric change is combined with highly refined decorative glasswork, reflecting the advanced glassmaking traditions of the Liège region.