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Goblet
Venice & Murano Glass & Mosaic Co. Ltd - Enlarge image
Goblet
- Place of origin:
Venice, Italy (made)
- Date:
ca. 1903 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Venice & Murano Glass & Mosaic Co. Ltd (manufacturer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Enamelled glass
- Museum number:
531-1903
- Gallery location:
Glass, room 131, case 28, shelf 1
In the late 19th century and early 20th, several Venetian glass workshops and factories specialised in the production of handmade glass in the 'traditional Venetian style'. In some cases they copied existing historic examples very closely. Sometimes their work was so successful that it was soon being sold in antiques markets. This goblet was closely copied from a fragmentary beaker that came to light when the campanile, or bell-tower, in St Mark's Square in Venice collapsed in 1902. This copy was made in the following year by 'The Venice and Murano Glass Company Ltd' with the intention to supply it to ‘Museums, Collectors and others wishing to posses an interesting relic of the Campanile of St Mark’. It was indeed bought by the V&A in 1903 for that very reason.

