Embassy
- Gallery: Room 48
- Maker: Walter Dorwin Teague
- Made in: Toledo (town - Ohio)
- Date: 1939 (designed); 1940-1942 (made between)
- Object type: goblet
- Materials: glass
- Museum number: 1988,0608.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "Embassy," a water goblet from a glass service designed in 1939 and made between 1940 and 1942. It's crafted from clear glass with a vertically ribbed, flattened stem and a free-blown bowl and foot. The stem itself was pressed and polished, giving the piece a sleek and refined look.
This goblet was part of a larger service for the State Dining Room at the 1939 World's Fair. The "Embassy" pattern came with eight different stemware sizes and was designed by Walter Dorwin Teague and Edwin W. Fuerst for the Libbey Glass Company. The series was short-lived due to wartime production restrictions.
Notice the maker's mark at the base of the goblet—etched in a circle, it reads "Libbey." This piece reflects the Art Deco era's elegant and modern aesthetic.
See it in person
Embassy is on display in Room 48 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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