Double-Handled Filigrana Vase

When it was perfected in the mid-1500s, twisted white cane decoration, known as vetro a fili and vetro a retorti, revolutionized the appearance of Venetian glass and won the admiration of a wealthy international clientele. By the end of the 1500s, glassmakers throughout northern Europe copied and distributed the techniques and styles of contemporary Venetian glass, including cane decoration, calling it façon de Venise (in the style of Venice). The Northern European copies are often so stylistically similar to those produced in Italy that scholars sometimes have difficulty determining where some vessels were actually made.