“In Sparkling Company”: Presenting Eighteenth-Century Britain in Western New York State

Abstract

In May 2021, The Corning Museum of Glass, located in Western New York State, opened the exhibition “In Sparkling Company: Glass and the Costs of Social Life in Britain during the 1700s”. Its aim, through a lens of glass, was to introduce visitors to what it meant to be “modern” during the eighteenth century, and the social and economic costs of modernity both for the consumers and producers of luxury during this period. This feature considers the role of gallery design in engaging visitors with displays of often small-scale, colourless glass, while simultaneously supporting the exhibition’s narratives of technical innovation, design, and elite sociability against a backdrop of colonial expansion and exploitation.

Keywords

• glass
• lead glass
• decorative arts