Drinking Glasses

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Drinking Glasses

The earliest known drinking vessels were made from pottery. But in the 15th century BCE, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, cast glass cups appeared. 

In Roman times, glassblowing was developed – and the human race hasn’t looked back since. Drinking out of glass allows the drink in question to be savoured without taking on the tang of a metal or clay vessel. 

Drinking glasses now come in all shapes and sizes, each tailored to specific beverages. In 15th century Venice, some enterprising glassblower realised that stemmed glasses would allow a drink to remain cold in a warm hand – as well as looking more elegant. 

As different alcoholic drinks – wines, spirits, beer, cocktails – were developed, each found their ideal glass, depending on what sort of serving size seems appropriate compared to the strength of the drink, and how the look of the glass can show off the contents. 

Even humble water glasses can be made to look beautiful – as you’ll see in our Ichendorf Milano collection – but all drinking glasses have the potential to delight the eye as well as the palette.