sh Museum, where there is also a very large series of Venetian
drinking glasses of various kinds, clear and lace glass as well as some
of the 15th-century goblets with enamelled designs, now of the greatest
rarity. The relations of Venice with the East were of so intimate a
character that the earlier forms of Venetian glasses were nearly
identical with those of the Mahommedan East.

A common type of Arab drinking glass resembled our modern tumbler (a
beaker), but gradually expanding in a curve towards the mouth, and often
enamelled. The enamelled designs were at times related to the purpose of
the vessel, figures drinking and the like, but more commonly bore either
a mark of ownership, such as the armorial device of an emir, or some
simple decorative design. This simple form probably has its origin in
the horn cup made from the base of a cow's horn and closed at the
smaller end. The later forms in the late 15th century and after,
followed the fashion in other materials, and were raised on a tall foot,
so that from the 16th century onwards the type of wine glass has hardly
changed, except in details. An interesting variety in one detail is seen
in the German fashion of providing an elaborate silver stand into which
the foot of such an ordinary-shaped glass was made to fit. Frequently,
as might be expected, such stands are found without glasses, and their
use then seems difficult to explain.

Another characteristic German type is the "wiederkom," a vessel more
conspicuous for capacity than for its artistic qualities. It is usually
a cylindrical vessel of green glass often holding as much as a quart,
elaborately enamelled with coats of arms and views of well-known places;
and at times when the cup was a wedding gift the figures of the bride
and bridegroom are seen upon it.

A very fanciful kind of cup was known in England as a "yard of ale," a
long tube of glass generally shaped like a coach horn, but ending
sometimes in three prongs as a trident, the opening in the latter being
at the end of the handle, which was about a yard in length.

Small silver cups were often made in dozens with various devices,
differing in each, such as the signs of the zodiac, the occupations of
the months, or figures of the classical gods and goddesses, engraved
upon them.

The tankard came into fashion in the 16th century, a practical, but
seldom graceful object. At first some attempt was made, by shaping the
sides, to attain to some arti