Bowl

Art Historical Context

This elegant 18th-century glass bowlails from Murano, the historic island near Venice renowned as Europe's glassmaking capital since the 13th century. Crafted by an unknown artist, its graceful form—measuring 7⅞ × 10 inches—exemplifies the Venetian mastery of blown glass, a technique that transformed raw silica into translucent, shimmering vessels prized by nobility and collectors alike. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative department, it entered the collection in 1881 as a gift from James Jackson Jarves, a pioneering American connoisseur of Italian R...