Southern Netherlands

Vetri a serpenti (serpent glasses) became the signature pieces of the Venetian 17th-century glass industry. Their complicated stems, with undulating and twisting glass canes and wing-like “knops”, resemble serpents or dragons, giving them their name.  This striking and distinctive form was widely imitated by other European glasshouses, especially in the Southern and Northern Netherlands, where Venetian glass was a highly desired luxury.

 

Colorless, transparent red, yellow, and opaque white glass, blown, tooled, about 1625-50
Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1994.5