A descriptive catalogue of the glass vessels in the South Kensington Museum
A descriptive catalogue of the museum's collection of glass vessels, compiled by Alexander Nesbitt and published in London in 1878 for the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert, as a reference for curators and students. The plates show engraved line drawings of vessels: a handled urn with dragon-like scrolls, a pitcher with a tall curved spout and figurative engraving on its body, a covered flask on a foot, and a ribbed two-handled vase with tall looping handles. A designer might take from them the sinuous handle forms and the dense, ornamental engraving of figures and scrolls, rendered in strong black hatching.
