Phot. Z. Reszka

The boot-shaped glass with a high upper belongs to that type of glassware, which was considered amusing because its curious shape was a source of additional merriment for those gathered around the table. From the second half of the sixteenth century, European glassworks, and in particular those in present-day Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Belgium and the Netherlands produced glasses and bottles in the shape of a pistol, a trumpet, a canon, a key, a bear, a dog, a dove or a woman. The sophisticated decoration added in certain cases made it difficult to drink, and the user was forced to resort to tricks in order to empty the vessel without spilling its contents. The exhibit from the Wilanów collections was probably not a great rarity during the nineteenth century since in 1839 Aleksander Potocki purchased Glasses in the shape of Shoes 4, and an inventory of a palace in St. Petersburg (1848), which belonged to his daughter-in-law, Aleksandra née Potocka, also includes in a section on Assorted old Glassware in Cupboard no. 14 – 2 wine Glasses in the shape of shoes.