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The Tazza
A wine glass of distinction
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Tazza (plural Tazze) is Italian for cup. In this particular
instance "tazza" is used to describe a style of drinking glass that has a
shallow bowl on a foot or pedestal[1]. The dates of surviving examples clearly show these goblets were in use
from early on during Elizabeth's reign, which combined with their presence
in Elizabethan images proves their use in English society during the mid
to late sixteenth century. These "goblets with cigar-shaped stems were
among the most popular drinking glasses in early 17th-century
England"[2] indicating that the
popularity of tazze grew towards the end of the SCA period.
This style of pedestal dish was used in England drinking red wine, and
on occasion for serving sweetmeats [3]. Indeed, they can be seen in use as wine glasses in
period images. For example, a gentleman is depicted filling a tazza from a
decanter in the foreground of "Elizabeth I at a picnic in a forest". This
famous woodcut from page 90 of George Turbervile's 1570 "The booke of
Hunting" (British Library, record number c2050-10), shows the tazza in
use in the highest echelons of English society during the Elizabethan
period. It is believed that a disproportional number of these delicate and
highly fragile items survived the late 16th and early 17th Centuries
because they were used solely for special occasions[3]. Fortunately Meistern Christian had been subjected to my rhapsodising
about tazze (and my dejected rantings on the lack of even semi-decent
tazze in the local stores) sufficient times since the search started in
2003 that she recognised this for what it was immediately ... the
perfect period style tazza. Armed with this knowledge I was thus able to descend on the shop and
snare this wonderful wine glass. How Does My Tazza Compare
to Period Tazze? My tazza (above right) is virtually identical to several extant
examples - in material, shape, size and decoration. However I do not have
permission to reproduce the images of extant tazze here, so following are
the museum/accession numbers and links to the museums for you to look up
if you are interested in comparing them yourself.
Victoria & Albert Museum (Image
Search) Museum of London Corning Museum of Glass This is not the only style of period tazza, however the tall, delicate, flat bottomed shallow dish with minimal adornment is my personal favourite.
Other Shapes There is quite a variation in shape amongst surviving tazze. Not all bowls are quite so shallow, for example the Austrian tazza (1560-1580, V&A Museum, accession number C.310-1936), which has considerably deeper vertical sides. There are also some examples of tazze without flat bottoms to the bowl, such as the filigree tazza (1550-1650, Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 242-1853), which also has sloped walls. Some earlier tazze also appear to have a large, flat lip around the edge of the otherwise straight sided, flat bottomed bowl, as seen in the French tazza (1499-1514, Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1975.1.1194) Additionally the pedestals themselves range in height from that shown above to considerably shorter. The filigree tazza (1550-1650, Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 242-1853) has a pedestal of less than half the height of the tazza shown in the "At Home in the Renaissance" exhibition (1550-1600, Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number 188-1879). This is still significantly taller than the approximately 2cm high foot in a surviving tazza fragment (1501-1600, Museum of London, accession number 21841). There are also a number of examples of tazze with significantly wider pedestals. One excellent example of this is the gilt decorated Venetian tazza (1550-1600, Corning Museum of Glass, accession number 58.3.82).
Other Materials While glass is by far the most common material among the surviving tazze and tazza fragments, other materials are also found on occasion. For example, the Italian Tazza made of carved and engraved rock crystal (1550-1600, British Museum, The Waddeson Bequest, Room 45).
There are a number of surviving metal tazze. For example the Italian "Aldobrandini Tazza" constructed of silver gilt (1560-1570, Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number M.247-1956). This tazza is obviously for serving sweetmeats rather than drinking wine (due to the figure emanating from the centre of the bowl that would poke any drinker in the eye) and as such its intended use may have had some influence on its material of manufacture. However there are several "standard" style metal tazze, such as the silver and parcel-gilt tazza made in Antwerp (1581-2, Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number M.37-1960) and there is no suggestion whether these were used for wine or sweetmeats. However, practical experience would suggest metal would be more suited to serving sweetmeats than drinking acidic wines.
Other Decorations While there are plenty of examples of unadorned tazze, surviving examples and fragments also show many different types of decoration. In some examples the glass itself is treated or manipulated in someway during manufacture. In one tazza (1550-1600, Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number: 3649-1856) the bowl is formed using the "Ice Glass" technique. The decoration is created when the hot glass bubble is plunged into cold water in order to create cracks on the glass surface, which are then enlarged by repeated heating and blowing the bubble, and cooling[4]. Another example is the Filigree Tazza (1550-1600, Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number 242-1853) where the maker incorporated opaque white glass "canes" into the clear glass tazza while it was being manufactured[5]. In other tazze the decoration is applied to the finished item using methods such as enamelling or gilding. There are many examples of tazze that are adorned with both enamel and gilt, and the most popular decoration would appear to be based around the Arms of the owners. For example the "Fugger Tazza" which displays the full coat of Arms of the Fugger family (1560-1580, Victorian and Albert Museum, accession number C.310-1936) and the "Medici Tazza" that shows the Medici arms and a symbol of the papacy (1513-1534, Corning Museum of Glass, accession number 57.3.44). Yet another example is the Strozzi Tazza, which again shows the family's Arms in enamel and gilt (1525-50, Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, accession number 84.2.10).
It is worth remembering that our perception is very probably skewed by the non-survival of less spectacular or significant vessels, and by the tendency of Museums to display the more impressive items in their collections. A word of warning, should you also find yourself enamoured with this highly impractical drinking vessel. Managing ones drink in a tazza is quite tricky as it tends to 'slop' with little encouragement and no warning. That is no doubt why it is considered to have required the "most sophisticated table manners to be able to drink from such a shallow glass without spilling" in period[6]. Indeed it is a brave individual who drinks red wine from one (or sits next to someone attempting such a feat).
Museum Collections Containing Tazze:
[1]The term
tazza is used by several museums for glass dishes of this style. For
example the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, the Corning
Museum of Glass, the Museum of London etc. |
This is my tazza, which my Laurel spotted
while shopping in rather posh homeware stores.