Vase with Dolphins and Flowers

This tall vase showcases many glassmaking techniques and decorative features admired by American tourists in the late nineteenth century. Its trumpetlike form suggests the action of glassblowing, with the artist's breath extending molten material into an elegant, fluted cone. A trio of dolphins and chrysanthemums rings the stem, each meticulously constructed, attached, and shaped over an open flame. Flowers and sea creatures were favorite decorative elements in Venetian glassware of the seventeenth century, when the island city reigned as Queen of the Adriatic with a strong navy and trading empire.