Ercole Barovier Murano Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Open Flower Decorative Bowls
View Similar Items
Ercole Barovier Murano Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Open Flower Decorative Bowls
About the Item
- Creator:Barovier&Toso (Manufacturer),Ercole Barovier (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 3.75 in (9.53 cm)Diameter: 7.75 in (19.69 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 3
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Kissimmee, FL
- Reference Number:Seller: 47641stDibs: LU97411080056
Ercole Barovier
Ercole Barovier left an indelible mark on the world of Italian modernist glassmaking — his vibrant use of color and exploration of innovative techniques yielded glass vases, chandeliers and other lighting and decorative objects that stand out in any interior many decades later.
Barovier grew up on the Venetian island of Murano, a region of the world famed for its production of artisanal glassworks. By the time he was born, in 1889, his family had already been in the glassmaking business for centuries, as the Barovier dynasty began in 1295. Nonetheless, Barovier did not choose glassmaking as his first career — he instead studied medicine as a young man before going on to work as a radio operator in the first World War.
The year after the war ended, Barovier joined his family’s business (the manufactory was called Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C.). He was appointed artistic director in 1926, and subsequently managed the business with his brother Nicolò. From 1927 onward, Barovier was the chief designer at his family’s glassworks. He became sole proprietor in 1934 and in 1936, merged his own family business with the Venetian glass factory SAIAR Ferro Toso. They renamed the company Barovier & Toso, a name under which the company still operates today.
Early in his career, Barovier garnered praise for his work with murrine glass, one of the traditional arts for which Murano is widely known. In the 1930s, he began pushing the boundaries of tradition and experimenting with new ways to bring color into his glass objects. He is credited with having invented colorazione a caldo senza fusione, a method of introducing metals and oxides into glassworks. Barovier’s style became defined by his use of riotous color and later, audacious forms. He created sculptures, table lamps and other pieces using mosaic techniques to add a kaleidoscope of striking hues to his work. Barovier had a particular gift to bring out glass’s unique properties to refract and filter light in every shade of the rainbow.
Barovier took endless inspiration from the world around him, from the play of light reflecting off the canals near his home to artworks from classical antiquity. Prior to World War II, his works included naturalistic designs including floral sconces, vine-wrapped chandeliers and sea life-inspired bowls (the manufactory was known for sinuous lighting pieces that are often described as embodying “Liberty Style” — the Italian term for Art Nouveau). He focused on reinterpreting classical techniques and styles in the postwar years. Geometrically patterned vases that recalled Ancient Greek pottery in their bold forms — as well as precisely detailed Art Deco glass serving bowls — are among his characteristic works from this period. Gold leaf was applied as a decorative flourish, and Barovier worked to ensure that his pieces reflected contemporary trends. His mid-century glass is particularly sought after by today’s collectors.
Up until his retirement in 1972, Barovier continued his exploration of the creative potential in glassmaking. His fearlessness in combining cutting-edge techniques with deeply traditional practices led him to create over 25,000 designs over the course of his life.
Barovier’s work garnered international acclaim. He received many awards and accolades, including awards at the Milan Triennial exhibitions in 1933 and 1954, the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1937, and the Compasso d'Oro in 1956.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Ercole Barovier lighting, decorative objects and serveware.
Barovier&Toso
Partnerships come and go within the community of glass-making artisans on the Venetian island of Murano, where business relationships seem as complex as the shifting alliances in the notoriously acrimonious Italian parliament. Formed in 1942 by members of families with centuries of experience in the craft, Barovier, Toso & Co. has proven to be one of the most enduring and prosperous Italian glass manufactories of recent decades. Under the nearly 50-year artistic directorship of cofounder Ercole Barovier (1889–1974), the company created buoyant traditional pieces such as chandeliers and sconces, and it pioneered an array of innovative modernist designs with bold colors, patterns and surfaces.
To appeal to gentler, more conservative tastes, Barovier Toso produced a range of lilting, sinuous lighting pieces that are often described as embodying “Liberty Style” — the Italian term for Art Nouveau, taken from the name of the famed London department store that promoted 19th-century organic textile designs in the manner of William Morris. The hallmarks of the style in Barovier & Toso works are elements of glass in the shape of thick leaves, fronds and flower petals, deployed along with other naturalistic ornament in sconces, pendants and chandeliers.
Ercole Barovier began his personal aesthetic transition toward modernism in the 1930s with his Primavera series of vases and animal sculptures — idiosyncratic milky-white and clear glass filled with tiny bubbles and hairline interior fissures that he produced for Artisti Barovier, a firm headed by his father and uncle. Later, with Barovier Toso, he would explore such novel styles as the mosaic-like Pezatto glass; fluid Spiral patterns; the pebbly textured Barbarico line and the complex, layered and highly colored abstractions of the Oriente series of vases and bowls.
Traditional or modern, Barovier Toso — still under family control — has produced one of the finest and most diverse catalogues of Murano glass in the last 100 years.
- Barovier Toso Murano Gray Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Decorative Flower BowlBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Kissimmee, FLBeautiful vintage Murano hand blown gray and gold flecks Italian art glass flower shaped bowl. Documented to designer Ercole Barovier for Barovier e Toso, circa 1960s. Created in the...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
$656 Sale Price25% Off - Barovier Toso Murano Red Pink Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Flower Form BowlsBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Kissimmee, FLPrice per item (3 colors available). Gorgeous vintage Murano hand blown controlled bubbles and gold flecks Italian art glass flower form bowls. Documented to designer Ercole Barovier...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
$562 Sale Price / item25% Off - Murano Venetian White Gold Flecks Fish Stem Italian Art Glass Compote BowlsBy Barovier&Toso, SalviatiLocated in Kissimmee, FLPriced per item (2 available as shown). Gorgeous early Murano hand blown white and gold flecks Italian art glass compote bowls with fish stems deco...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Victorian Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
$500 Sale Price / item33% Off - Barovier Toso Murano Green Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Decorative Flower BowlBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Kissimmee, FLBeautiful vintage Murano hand blown green and gold flecks Italian art glass flower shaped bowl. Documented to designer Ercole Barovier for Barovier e Toso, circa 1960s. Created in th...Category
Mid-20th Century Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
$563 Sale Price24% Off - Ercole Barovier Murano Iridescent Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass Seashell BowlBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Kissimmee, FLBeautiful vintage Murano hand blown, iridescent, gold flecks and textured Italian art glass scissor cut rim bowl. Documented to Ercole Barovier for Barovier e Toso, circa 1940s, in t...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
$1,050 Sale Price25% Off - Ercole Barovier Toso Murano 1954 Purple Gold Flecks Italian Art Glass VaseBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Kissimmee, FLBeautiful and rare, vintage Murano hand blown amethyst purple and yellow stripes, with gold flecks Italian art glass flower vase. Documented to designer Ercole Barovier, for Barovier...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsGold Leaf
$4,050 Sale Price25% Off
- Ercole Barovier Toso Murano Gold Flecks Bullicante Art Glass Ribbed BowlBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Barcelona, ESAmazing hand blown Cordonato D' Oro Bullicante soft green Murano glass ribbed bowl / ashtray. Ercole Barovier for Barovier e Toso. Italy, 1930s This striking decorative bowl is heav...Category
20th Century Italian Art Deco Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Italian Decorative Handmade Glass Bowl By Ercole Barovier 1940Located in Los Angeles, CABarovier e Toso centerpiece Murano iridescent, 1940, Italy.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Bowls
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Ercole Barovier for Barovier & Toso Aborigeni Murano Art Glass BowlBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Berghuelen, DEErcole Barovier for Barovier & Toso Aborigeni Murano Art Glass Bowl A great Murano glass bowl in Aborigeni technique. Designed by Ercole Barovier and manufactured by Barovier & Toso...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsArt Glass, Murano Glass
- Vintage Transparent Decorative Glass Flower Bowls, Drost, Europe, 1960sBy Jan Sylwester DrostLocated in 05-080 Hornowek, PLPair of decorative transparent basket bowls designed by Jan Sylwester Drost in 1960s from Poland. Bowls are in very good vintage condition, no damage or cracks. Original glass. Beautiful piece for every interior! Only one unique set. About the designer: From 1952 Jan Sylwester Drost studied at the Faculty of Glass of the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, in the studio of Stanislaw Dawski (diploma in 1958), from 1959 he worked as a designer at Zaklady Mechaniczno-Optyczne "Opta" in Katowice. In 1960 Drost started working for forty years at the Design Center of Huta Szkla Gospodarczego "Zabkowice" in Zabkowice Bedzinskie, where he was the organizer, designer and design manager. In 1972 he studied in Sweden, he had the opportunity to learn about the work of glassworks in Orrefors, Johansfors, Lindshammar, Sandvisk, Hofmantorp and in Reijmyre glasbruk. He also practiced in the ceramics factories in Rörstrand and Gustavsberg. Also in 1972, he received a scholarship from the Swedish government, he gained knowledge at the Faculty of Industrial Design of the Academy of Fine Arts in Konstfackskolan, at the Centers of Industrial Design in Stockholm and Milan, as well as at the Glass Institute in Växjö. After returning to Poland, he received a two-year creative scholarship from the Council of the Fund for the Development of Artistic Creativity. Drost skillfully combined his technological knowledge of glass pressing with artistic sensitivity, and in the seventies he was granted a patent for a device for forming glass products by extrusion. As a result, vessels with a freely shaped upper rim were created. Drost was constantly involved in coming up with new technological solutions that improved the embossing of patterns. He also experimented in the field of machine processing of the outer surface of the extruder and the inside of the cast iron mold...Category
Mid-20th Century Polish Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic, Glass
- Barovier et Toso Murano Glass DishBy Barovier&TosoLocated in West Palm Beach, FLThis large scale, violet colored Murano glass dish dates to the 1980s and was created by Barovier et Toso. Note: The piece retains its origianl ma...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Centerpieces
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Ercole Barovier Rostrato Murano Art Glass Basket Centerpiece VaseBy Barovier&Toso, Ercole BarovierLocated in Barcelona, ESErcole Barovier Murano Rostrato green and clear gold flecked glass basket vase Exquisite green Rostrato Murano art glass basket vase with a tw...Category
20th Century Italian Art Deco Vases
MaterialsGold Leaf