Goblet. Straight sided bowl with fire polished rim; rounded base, supported by merese and blown gourd shaped double knop; lower knop twisted, with 14 ribs. Lower knop is capped and attached with glue-bit to dragon stem made of twisted, molded 12 ribbed cable of colorless glass enclosing one red and two white canes; white canes are partly enclosed in aqua colored glass. Red cane and at least one white cane are cased in colorless glass (they appear hollow). Twisted cable is S shaped; upper, thicker part, which forms dragon’s head, is applied, with colorless glass muzzle, aqua colored snipped crest, pinched “ears” and “eye,” and, below these, two snipped wings. Wings and ears have been pinched with very subtle waffle patterned tool. Lower part of cable is coiled and edged with applied notched ribbons of colorless glass. Both ends of cane are broken off; top end is fire polished, and tip is rough. Dragon is joined, with glue-bit, to mold-blown (12 ribs) knop and merese, which forms upper part of capstan; capstan is supported by shallow, blown foot with pontil mark.

This dragon-stem goblet exemplifies the virtuosity of Venetian glassmakers. The complex, colorful stem shows a serpent with a convoluted body, outspread wings, open jaws, and a crest. Known in Italian as vetri a serpenti, serpent-stem goblets were very fashionable in the 17th century. The serpent motif is frequently found in the decorative arts of the Baroque period. The high viscosity of the Venetian soda-lime glass was ideal for the creation of such elaborate forms. Substantial numbers of large covered glasses with flat, symmetrical serpent stems were made by Venetian craftsmen in the Netherlands and Germany during the second half of the 17th century. In the 18th century, many of these glasses were engraved with genre scenes, floral motifs, and inscriptions.