We may well recall now that the English poet and diplomat Matthew Prior (1664-1721) - one of the literary worthies commemorated at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey referred to the allegedly potent and magical powers of a "votive glass" Prior alludes to a woman who is lamenting her rapidly fading beau-ty and has no wish to examine a once fine countenance in her mirror.

Prior's imaginary woman says: "Venus, take my votive glass; Since I am not what I was "Plainly Hirst does not aspire to this kind of potency or witchcraft when he makes "votive glasses", but his work does surely engage our attention in terms of its visual or pictorial potency and on account of its subtle and persuasive allusion to a wide range of traditional imagery. At the same time, his smooth unification of two and three-dimensional studies of the same characteristic type of decorated vessel, has become something of a leitmotif for this Sydney artist.

Geoffrey Edwards is the Senior Curator of Sculpture and Glass at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.