Some sources of inspiration overflow in your cup like a running faucet of champagne. For me, Bacchus, the Baroque painting by Caravaggio does this every time. Full of ripe fruit, red wine, flora and fauna, it's a delicious depiction of the Greek god Dionysus, a character synomonous with pleasure and revelry.

Cup in hand, this portrait reads like a toast to life itself. And the glass? It's beautifully impractical with a shapely stem that — as if by magic — is supporting a wide pool of wine.

Though our glassware lends itself to more functional use, it's fun to study these tricky forms from the Renaissance. Intentionally designed to fool the user, these playful glasses were considered part of the evening's amusement, presenting cheeky challenges to those brave enough to drink from the cups without spilling. As explained in the book Trick Glass: Devious Drinking Devices authored by Kitty Laméris and Marc Barreda: "The glasses stimulated a sense of togetherness, provided entertainment value and, of course, encouraged drunkenness."

The marvel of these designs though, exists in the masterful execution of the craftspeople that created these otherworldly objects through the fickle medium of glass. Games aside, there's something fantastical about the forms from these bygone eras.