Auction 155C

Murano Glass

04. March 2021 at 3:00 PM CET


Catalogue


Fulvio Bianconi's vases with the decoration 'A fasce di colore' are very rare on the market. The almost always very large-formatted pieces were very elaborate in their production, especially as the fused horizontal ribbons in the colours red, blue, green and deep violet required enormous technical skill. In the auction on 4 March, two vases of this type will be offered from different German private collections. The slender drop-shaped vase and the spherical vase with flared rim are each estimated at €7,000 - 9,000. From a private collection in Munich come two important vases by Carlo Scarpa. The tall cylindrical vase 'A bollicine' in green, strongly bubbled glass is among the architect’s earliest designs. The vase was designed in 1932/33 and is estimated at €7,000 - 9,000. It bears the coveted two-line etched stamp identifying it as an early version with the addition 'MADE IN ITALY'.

Scarpa developed the 'Tessuto' decoration already around 1940, the slender drop-shaped vase, which has the model no. 4550, is to be dated 1945-48 and glows bright yellow with deep purple and white vertical threads. The vase is unsigned, but can be clearly identified as an early piece based on its high quality workmanship and astoundingly light weight. Decors created by contemporary artists and architects were not unique to Venini. At Barovier & Toso, Ercole Barovier created most of the designs of the highest quality himself in the 1950s and 1960s. Here, quite a tall vase with the patchwork-like 'Sidone' decoration stands out. It was structured in milky-opalescent platelets arranged in pairs and offset by 90 degrees. The vase with this rare and highly sought-after decoration from 1957 is estimated at €8,000 - 10,000.


Ercole Barovier and Carlo Scarpa roughly double their estimates

The keen interest continued on the third day of the auction. Over 60% of the lots were sold - often with large price jumps.

Most of the high hammer prices and price increases were seen in works by Ercole Barovier, led by his 'Sidone' vase from 1957, which was sold for € 16,000 after having been called up at € 7,300. An 'A spina' vase from 1958 climbed from € 3,000 to € 5,700, a 'Diamantati' from 1968 from € 1,500 to € 5,000, a 'Mugnoni' vase from 1938 from € 2,000 to 3,500, one 'Barbarico' vase from the year 1951 from € 900 to € 3,100 and an 'Intarsio' vase from € 900 to € 3,400.

The results of the Venini manufactory were led by Carlo Scarpa's 'Sommerso a bollicine' vase. Here, bidding started at € 5,000 and the hammer fell at € 11,000. Fulvio Bianconi provided the design for the 'A fasce di colore' vase that was sold at € 6,000.

Archimede Seguso was once again highly popular. His rare 'Nero d'oro' vase from 1951 climbed from € 6,000 to € 8,500. There was also great interest in Anzolo Fuga's 'Con fasce e murrine' from 1956, which, having been called up at € 1,800, received € 6,100.