looking at engraved glass display

many of you will know this, but just in case, i'd like to share one of the most important things about displaying engraved glass. luckily it is also one of the simplest and it will make the world of difference to a piece, bringing it to life. although good lighting is useful, I reckon it is much more important to see the engraving the right way round. this isn't with the engraving to the front (A) but to the back (B) so you view the engraving 'through' the glass.  

it seems counter intuitive doesn't it and I hadn't realised it was an issue until I spotted a piece of my work in a catalogue, photographed the wrong way round. you can see the difference in the example above between A and B, same lighting but much more rounded and an illusion of 3D. 

also, it is tempting to display gilded pieces with the bling to the front, but much better to resist and turn it round as intended when it was made. this has the added benefit of stopping people touching the engraving and damaging the gold leaf. of course this doesn't apply to vessels where the engraving might go all the way round or to 'cameo' engraving, but where engraving is on one side only.