Auction 143C
Murano Glass
21. February 2019 at 5:00 PM CET
Catalogue
30.00 € including VAT plus shipping costs
Browse auction catalogue onlineBetween 1940 and 1942 Carlo Scarpa designed vessels with elaborate wheel carved, partly figurative, motives. Only very few are documented, each of them probably made as unique pieces by the manufacturer Venini. The vase 'Inciso' comes from a Munich private collection. It carries two wheel carved polished fish in high relief and is estimated at € 4,000 - 6,000. The 'A macchie' vase estimated at € 60,000 - 80,000 was also executed by the Venini workshop. Fulvio Bianconi who was originally a painter and graphic artist brings the ideas of tachism into glass making. The overlapping cloudy black and blue spots on both sides give a lively three-dimensional image while looking through.
Three 'Merletto' vases by Archimede Seguso are offered in the auction. Seguso, who died in 1999 was one of the few manufactory owners who designed and made the glass by himself. He is the great master of the lacy net-like 'Merletto' decor. The yellow 'Merletto giallo' is estimated at € 6,000 - 8,000. A smaller 'Merletto pois' is offered at € 2,500 - 3,500 and a large 'Merletto' with a violet top rim carries an estimate of € 4,000 - 6,000.
As usual, there is a variety of important works by Ercole Barovier in the sale. It starts with the 1920 vase by Giuseppe Barovier estimated € 2,500 - 3,500. A very rare piece in dark violet with aventurine murrines in star-shape. It also carries the murrine maker's mark with the letters AB for Artisti Barovier. In 1940 Ercole Barovier designed the 'Lenti' series. The eye-catching spherical vase in the auction features a shiny pink layer with gold foil and is estimated at € 3,000 - 4,000. From the mid-1950s onwards Ercole Barovier experimented with checkered and herringbone patterns. A very large 'Parabolico' vase in checkered grey and opalescent white pattern estimated at € 4,000 - 6,000 stands out. Also, a cylindrical vase with the very rare 'Alterno blu' pattern, designed in 1958 and estimated at € 3,000 - 4,000 will be especially appealing to collectors. Further, there are two vases in 'Dorico' pattern which were introduced in 1960 - a drop shaped vessel in grey and white (€ 4,000 - 6,000) and a half-spherical vase in green and white (€ 3,500 - 4,500).
143C - Murano Glass
With a sales rate of around 70%, the first Murano glass auction of the year comes to a successful conclusion.
The top lot of the auction, the rare vase 'A Macchie' by Fulvio Bianconi secured a collector for EUR 60,000. Extremely popular were the flowers of Gianni Zennaro, who rarely find their way to the market. Three copies could be offered in this auction and led to exciting bidding wars (hammer prices: EUR 7,500 / EUR 7,500 / EUR 6,000).
Very good results were achieved by the designs of Ercole Barovier, almost all of them could be sold and experienced some gratifying increases, such as the vase 'Alterno blu', which climbed from EUR 3,000 to 7,000. Particularly noteworthy is the large vase 'Parabolico' which doubled its estimate with a hammer price of EUR 8,800.
Unsold objects will be available in our post auction sale until Friday, 22 March.
