This is a facon de Venise tazza dating from some time in the 17th century. Tazzas of this type, copied from Venetian prototypes, were popular productions in the Netherlands and have also been attributed to Catalonia. They are illustrated and discussed in detail by Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Venezianisches Glas der Veste Coburg (1994), pp.111-6, nos.53-9. Similar tazzas are depicted as salvers for drinks or sweetmeats in contemporary paintings and the varying sizes in which tazzas with this decoration are found may indicate that some were intended to form tiered table centre pieces. The consistency of the form and chain-link decoration suggests that they may be products of one workshop specialising in these pieces, rather than products of several workshops producing glass in the Venetian style. Two similar tazzas are in the Frankfurt Museum für Kunsthandwerk, illustrated in the catalogue Glas (1973), p.68, nos.127 and 128.
The tazza is in excellent condition for its age. This means, of course, that it shows age related wear and tear to the rim of the foot consistent with some 300 years of use. It has a rough pontil mark on the apex of the foot.
The tazza has a round, flat top measuring 29.5 cm (11.8 inches) in diameter at the upturned rim. The bowl is decorated with a trailed turquoise glass chain within two thin circles of trailed milled glass to the underside of the bowl. The bowl sits on a high, flared, folded foot with a medial trailed collar of glass which measures 12.5 cm (5 inches) in diameter. The tazza is 10.2 cm (4.1 inches) in height. There are no chips, cracks, significant scratches or any obvious evidence of restoration. The top is slightly off the flat as is often the case with early tazzas and the foot is also slightly uneven resulting in a slight wobble.
It is made from high quality soda metal weighing 470 g. (~ 1 lb.).
Provenance: Lady ‘Lili’ Maria Elisabeth Augusta Cartwright (née von Sandizell). Thence by descent to her son, William Cornwallis Cartwright, Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire. Thence by family descent to the prior owner
Quote item: 5934
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