Cecilia Seilern Und Aspang

My dissertation is an exploration and proposal for an alternate understanding of the use of glass gems in jewellery during the seventeenth century. Glass gems, also referred to as paste or strass, are cut and polished glass pieces, often set in jewellery, to simulate natural gems. They are a highly under-researched field potentially owing to their status as, seemingly, uninteresting imitations. But the use of these gems, in exceptional jewellery pieces, raises the question of whether the narrative surrounding the use of glass gems has been simplified throughout historiography and placed in a contemporary context, wherein glass gems are defined solely as cheaper imitations of natural gems.

In my dissertation I propose a need to re-examine glass gems in the seventeenth century by paying close attention to these pieces as objects of technical knowledge, design and innovation. An interdisciplinary range of key methodologies, coming from design history and material culture studies, provides a framework for thinking through a diverse range of primary resources, which include seventeenth century recipe books and jewellery, as well as textual references to glass gems. By building an interdisciplinary narrative, my findings place the use of glass gems in jewellery in a new light wherein they can be understood as being objects of elevated imitation, appreciated for their ingenuity.