Second-generation Italian-American glassblower Dante Marioni mines the Venetian obsession with Roman shapes, making pitchers, amphorae and other Bacchanalian vessels in luxurious, arresting colors. The languid duet of pitcher and handled goblet displays the <i>filo</i> technique, in which a vessel is rimmed with a single glass thread of contrasting color. The idea for Marioni’s Cup Box, on the opposite page, came from the cardboard boxes of the same dimension (two feet high by one foot square) where he discarded the Venetian goblets he made for play and practice. One morning in 1997 he had the notion to place the goblets in a Plexi-glas box and use it as an end table. After his baby learned to walk, he sold it to a collector. (via Elements of Living)