Photographing glass – what’s the best background to show it off to its advantage?

I will be photographing medieval glass art pieces for an online catalog. This stuff is great, and I want to really showcase it. Your help please. Thanks

This is a major question and a point of argument – some people think glass should be displayed with a vanishing background with the features picked out with lighting while other people want color and highlights that affect the glass. This page http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/photogl.htm shows a wonderful rig at the Corning Museum of Glass and my small copy of it using sanded plexiglass, which permits lighting from below. This clearly works best with glass that need to be lighted for detail rather than the black background that was used for photographing clear glass like Steuben [like this http://www.rafa.com/graphics/j006steuben.jpg] although it isn’t on their site http://steuben.com//acb/ss.cfm?section=2&m2&group=5
If your medieval glass has a lot of colored enamel, as I expect it to, then photographing it on a glass shelf with adjustable all around lighting and a neutral background far enough back to be blurred by shallow depth of field would seem a good idea.
I much prefer photographing glass far enough back as to approximate the views a person would have, telephotoing in to fill the frame rather than getting really close (except for capturing details for insets) so the nearest part of the piece blocks out parts of the rest.

Collaboration Murano Glass Art

Wilton 4-Tier Stacked Cupcake and Dessert Tower $12.81 Dessert Tower 4 Tier-16.25″X12″. WILTON-Stacked Dessert Tower. What a great way to display cupcakes; appetizers; brownies; fruit and other party treats! This stand consists of four stacking sections with angled tiers for the best view of decorated desse…

Cuisinart DCC-1200PRC 12-Cup Replacement Carafe-Black $19.66 Cuisinart DCC-1200PRC 12-Cup Replacement Coffee Carafe…

Cuisinart CPB-300 SmartPower 15-Piece Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System Meet the Cuisinart SmartPower Compact Portable Blender – the compact powerhouse that does it all! Use the streamline blending cup to make smoothies in a flash! Mince herbs in the chopper cup and whip up custom drinks right in the “To-Go” cups – we’ve included four of them so everyone can have their favorite! Designed of fit anywhere, the Compact Portable Blender delivers big blender performance wi…

Sigh No More $7.86 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed….

Rock n Roll Jesus $5.66 Kid Rock maintains a remarkable propensity for wearing his contradictions on his sleeve, and more than anything he’s previously released, Rock n Roll Jesus finds fuel in unresolved opposites. Is he a hard-core chauvinist (“Half Your Age”) or a would-be gentlemen (“When U Love Someone”)? Is he a God-fearing everyman (“Blue Jeans and a Rosary”) or a bohemian hero (“So Hott”)? These questions are not…

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix $6.97 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed….