Already in a Milanese manuscript of 1443 (described below) there is a formula given for making _schmelz_ by means of a mixture of certain salts of silver, iron, and copper, and before the end of the century we have Sabellico’s complaint that the modern murrhine glass was becoming far too common (see page 201); so that, on the whole, this family of marbled glass is, perhaps, as old as any other Venetian glass of which we have specimens. The examples, however, that have survived appear to be mostly of a somewhat later date. We find imitations of both classes of the Roman _millefiori_—the tints, however, are generally crudely matched—and especially several varieties of marbled glass with contorted veins of many colours. The schmelz _par excellence_ of the Venetians (the German name would seem to point to a northern origin) is an irregularly veined and mottled mass, a somewhat unpleasant combination of bluish-green and purple tints, calling to mind certain kinds of slag—indeed it may have originally been made in imitation of some such substance. There are a few exceptionally fine early examples of this schmelz at South Kensington. Notice above all the spherical vase from the Castellani collection with _cinquecento_ mountings and serpent handles of copper gilt; the greenish-yellow and pale blue tints are in this case harmoniously blended. To judge from the form of the bowl and stem, the cup of finely marbled schmelz at Hertford House cannot be dated much later than 1500. In this case, and probably in others also, the marblings are only on the surface; the interior is of a uniform greyish-green colour. Of scarcely less importance is the splashed ware for which we can again find a Roman if not an Egyptian prototype. The splashes of enamel of various colours must have been scattered over the _paraison_ at an early stage, for they have had to follow the changes of form given to the surface in the shaping of the vessel: we see them stretched out at the neck on the little burette in the Slade collection (No. 783). This splashed glass was much admired by the French and successfully imitated by them.