Footed Bowl

This footed bowl was intended to make a luxurious statement in late fifteenth-century Italy. Brilliant blue glass, meant to replicate the color of sapphires, was a specialty of Venetian glass blowers. The finely painted enameled decoration—cherubs and fantastical sphinxes—as well as the classical shape of the vessel, reflects the Italian Renaissance admiration for art and design of ancient Rome.

Such bowls were used only for special occasions such as weddings or celebratory feasts. This example’s gilded rim is inscribed with the phrase TENPORE FELICI MVLTI NOMINANTVR AMICI [In times of abundance one has lots of friends] that evokes a festive environment of largess in which the bowl was originally used.