Wine glass commemorating the wedding and birthday of Elisabeth van de Wall 1742

This wine glass, whose maker is anonymous, commemorates the wedding and birthday of Elisabeth van de Wall. We can think about this object as existing in the realm of celebrations of marriage, and of the importance of family in Dutch society. The glass is decorated with engraving and inscriptions alluding to the occasion it marks. This type of glassware was prevalent in the Netherlands, where the growing merchant class celebrated family milestones with commissioned artisanal objects. The glass speaks to a specific social context, one of relative prosperity in which such specialized objects could be commissioned, likely functioning as both a commemorative object and a practical item used in toasting the occasion. To learn more about this object, we can look at local records of glassware production, commissioned family objects, and the importance of the wedding in Dutch society, considering the cultural and economic history of the time.