Cristalleria Empoli - Drinking set (11) - Crystal

Transparent mouth-blown crystal set comprising 10 wine glasses, 12.3 cm high x 7.7 cm in diameter, and a bottle with stopper, 30.5 cm high x 14 cm in diameter. The glass has a bell-shaped/inverted-cone bowl, finely acid-etched with an ornamental pattern of classical scrolls, arabesques, and flourishes inspired by the Baroque/Art Deco styles. The stem is smooth and slender, joined to the bowl and circular foot by small knops. Made by the now-defunct Empoli glassworks (Florence) in the 1930s, in the Art Deco style. In Italy, these etched-crystal table sets were very common in the 20th century as wedding trousseau pieces and table décor in bourgeois homes. The bottle/decanter has a bulbous, flattened spherical body, a long, slender neck with ground vertical grooves or facets, and an original vial-/drop-shaped stopper that fits snugly into place. The lower part of the body is embellished with a carved or ground pattern of raised vertical fluting/ribs and small circular or oval cuts at the base.