Tazza (cup) facts for kids
A tazza is a special kind of dish. It's wide and shallow, like a saucer. It usually sits on a stem with a foot, or sometimes just on a foot. The word "tazza" comes from Italian and means "cup." People have used these dishes for many things. They could be for drinking, serving small snacks, or simply for decoration. Tazze are often made from metal, glass, or ceramic. But you can find them in other materials too!
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Famous Tazze in History
The Ancient Farnese Tazza
One very famous tazza is called the Farnese Tazza. It's an ancient cup from over 2,000 years ago! This tazza was made in ancient Egypt around the 2nd century BC. It's a special type of carving called a cameo. This means it was carved from a single stone. The stone used was a four-layered sardonyx agate. It's about 20 centimeters (almost 8 inches) wide. Today, you can see the Farnese Tazza at the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Italy.
Giant Tazze as Sculptures
Sometimes, the word "tazza" is used for very large sculptures. These huge tazze are often used as parts of fountains. One example is a giant tazza in the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri. This tazza is one of the biggest pieces of malachite in North America. Malachite is a beautiful green mineral.
History of the Linda Hall Library Tazza
This huge malachite tazza has an interesting history. It was given as a gift by Czar Nicholas II of Russia. He presented it to a man named August Heckscher in 1910. Later, in 1972, Mrs. Helen Spencer gave it to the Linda Hall Library. Now, this amazing tazza is the main attraction in the library's reading room.
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The Aldobrandini Tazza showing the Roman emperor Vitellius. It was made around the 1590s and is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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