A Carmelite
last half 18th century
Medium
Opaque white, tan, black, brown, pink, olive green, and waxlike colorless glass; copper and iron wire. Lampworked.
Dimensions
H 7.6 cm
Classification
Glass
Culture
probably French (Nevers)
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1567
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art,A Carmelite* is delicate lampworked glass figurine crafted by the Haly workshop the last half of the18th century. Standing just 7.6 cm tall, this charming depiction of a Carmelite friar—likely the Nevers region of—captures the solemnity of the religious order known for its contemplative life and brown habits. The figure's tags as "Men" highlight its focus on male ecclesiastical portraiture, a popular motif in period glasswork. Lampworking, the technique used here, involved melting rods of colorful glass—opaque white, ta...