1985.R.260.a-b, Covered Goblet, Bohemia, c. 1730-1750

Bohemia is the only European glass-making region that rivaled the fame of Venice. Rich in woodlands that could fuel the industry , the region (now in the Czech Republic) has been producing glass since the Middle Ages. By the 16th and 17th centuries, Bohemian glass dominated the northern European trade. Furthermore, adjacent areas like Silesia (part of Bohemia until 1742) worked in the Bohemian idiom. Such a transfer of style and technical skill was possible because glassworkers often moved from furnace to furnace in and outside the country. As a result, much of the glass made in Germany, Austria, Russia, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands is closely related to Bohemian products. 

This covered goblet reflects the importance of Bohemian glass in the 17th and 18th centuries. Because they were often elaborately decorated, covered goblets, or Deckelpokale, were expensive objects and were frequently given as presentation pieces. Glasshouses throughout northern Europe produced them, and Bohemia exported them across the continent. The use of a red twist in the stem and finial and the fineness of the engraved decoration are characteristic of many Bohemian examples as is the faceted stem and radiating cutting on the foot.  

Dallas Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Highlights from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 79.

Until 1985: Emery Reves (1904-1983) and Wendy Reves (1916-2007) (owned jointly), La Pausa, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France [1]

From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, gift of Wendy Reves (1916-2007) [1]

[1] According to: Olivier Meslay and Martha MacLeod, From Chanel to Reves (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2015), 4-5.