Just as the “sound world” of music from Spain seems to be immediately identifiable within the canon of Western music, Venetian-style glass made in Spain—especially in Catalonia—is instantly recognizable. Similarity of technique aside, more than any other “nationality” of Venetian-style glass, the visual signature of Catalan production is so distinctive that there is almost no chance of mistaking it for its Venetian progenitor.41
Nine Venetian-Style Glassworking Centers
Spain
Nine Venetian-Style Glassworking Centers
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Wineglass
The forms and decorative motifs of Spanish Venetian-style glass are unique, and so is at least one of its construction techniques.
A considerable number of objects, including this wineglass, display a very clever invention: the combination of the stem and foot is made from just one additional bubble of glass (Fig. 27). This contrasts sharply with the usual Venetian construction, which unfailingly incorporates two separate bubbles for making the lower portion of goblets. Although the Spanish method is difficult to execute, it saves considerable time and promotes a particularly attractive join between the stem and the foot.
Group of Spanish (probably Catalonian) Venetian-style objects: (left to right) goblet, covered goblet (confitero), and goblet, 1575–1699. Tallest: OH. 25.7 cm; Diam. (rim) 8.3 cm, (foot) 8.1 cm. The Corning Museum of Glass (60.3.86; 79.3.283, bequest of Jerome Strauss); 66.3.58, (gift of Jerome Strauss). Photo: The Corning Museum of Glass.
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