Antique glassware provides a unique decorative accent that recalls workmanship from bygone ages with its eye-catching hues and appealing diversity of forms and patterns. Many vintage glass collectors buy these items to exhibit, while many others preserve them for everyday use.

Although glass objects have been manufactured since the Bronze Age, the more modern method of cutting glass dates back about 2,000 years. Glassmakers would carve fine grooves, shapes, and intriguing designs into cooled pieces of glass using a grinding wheel. As they molded glass into luxurious drinking glasses and presented colorless forms of glassware, the Italian city of Venice became a leader in the craft.