Dessert glass(?)
Unknown Artist
probably late 17th century
Medium
Opalescent bluish white nonlead glass. Blown, pattern molded, trailed.
Dimensions
H. 15.2 cm
Classification
Glass
Culture
Italian (Venice)
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1155
Art Historical Context
This delicate *Dessert glass(?)*, likely from late 17th-century Venice, exemplifies the pinnacle of Italian glassmaking artistry during the Baroque era. Standing at 15.2 cm tall, it is crafted from opalescent bluish-whitelead glass—a prized material that evokes the shimmering iridescence of milk glass or lattimo, popular in Venice for its ethereal glow. Venetian artisans on the island of Murano dominated Europe's luxury glass trade, innovating techniques to rival costly rock crystal while evading export bans on their secrets. The glass was skillfully blown, then pattern-molded to create textu...