Ewer

This luxurious ewer, whose shape is copied from earlier metal liturgical vessels, would have held wine or other liquids on a Renaissance dining table. Glassworkers assembled this example from four separate parts: a rounded body with narrow neck, a curved tapered spout, a solid handle, and a hollow foot. An enamelist colored the ewer's body before the spout and handle were attached.

Venetian glass of the period typically features "fish-scale" gilding punctuated by blue dots. The wave-like pattern around the neck may represent the sun's rays--the insignia of the followers of Saint Bernard of Siena--or it might have been used here only for decorative effect.