Pair of Murano Glass "Feather" Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italy, 1930s
View Similar Items
Pair of Murano Glass "Feather" Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italy, 1930s
About the Item
- Creator:Tomaso Buzzi (Designer),Venini (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Width: 5.91 in (15 cm)Depth: 3.94 in (10 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1932-1933
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Niederdorfelden, DE
- Reference Number:Seller: LU23403262479021stDibs: LU2340326247902
Tomaso Buzzi
Architect, urban planner, glass, furniture and landscape designer, and interior decorator — Tomaso Buzzi was a 20th-century renaissance man. Buzzi, along with his frequent collaborator Gio Ponti, led Italy’s Novecento Milanese movement of the 1920s and ‘30s — an approximate equivalent to France’s Art Deco movement. While Buzzi is prized for chairs, tables and other furnishings that modernized the majestic lines of 18th-century designs, he is best known for the remarkable, jewel-toned glassware he produced in a two-year stint as the artistic director of the Venini glassworks on the Venetian island of Murano.
Buzzi was born in 1900 in the town of Sondrio in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. He studied at the Milan Polytechnic, and soon after he graduated joined a lively Milanese decorative arts scene. In 1927, he and Ponti joined fellow designers Paolo Venini and Michele Marelli to form a design collaborative called Il Labirinto (the Labyrinth), Italy’s answer to the Wiener Werkstätte. In 1932, when Venini's glass company lost the design services of the sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi, who left to start his own factory, he turned to Buzzi. The young architect’s careful study of lighting design and a love for experimentation yielded major innovations in Murano glass fixtures. The forms of his wares were inspired by sources from antiquity as diverse as Persian urns and animal-shaped Etruscan jugs. Buzzi developed a complex glass-layering method that produced deep, glowing pastel colors that ran from pink to peach, to sea-green and slate blue.
Buzzi furniture has a noteworthy elegance and nobility. Delicate chairs with arrow-shaped backs and elaborate burled wood armoires are typical of his aesthetic, and would add a sophisticated note to any room, modern or traditional. And an exemplary piece of Buzzi’s vibrant, lustrous glassware would merit a place of honor in every design collection.
Venini
Beginning in the 1930s — and throughout the postwar years especially — Venini & Co. played a leading role in the revival of Italy’s high-end glass industry, pairing innovative modernist designers with the skilled artisans who created extraordinary chandeliers, sconces and other lighting in the centuries-old glass workshops on the Venetian island of Murano.
While the company’s co-founder, Paolo Venini (1895–1959), was himself a highly talented glassware designer, his true genius was to invite forward-thinking Italian and international designers to Murano’s hallowed workshops to create Venini pieces — among them Gio Ponti, Massimo Vignelli, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, Thomas Stearns of the United States and Fulvio Bianconi.
Paolo Venini trained and practiced as a lawyer for a time, though his family had been involved with glassmaking for generations. After initially buying a share in a Venetian glass firm — he and antiques dealer Giacomo Cappellin established Vetri Soffiati Cappellin Venini & C. in 1921 — Venini took over the company as his own in 1925, and under his direction, it produced mainly classical Baroque designs.
In 1932, Venini hired the young Carlo Scarpa— who would later distinguish himself as an architect — as his lead designer. Scarpa, working in concert with practiced glass artisans, completely modernized Venini, introducing simple, pared-down forms; bright primary colors; and bold patterns such as stripes, banding and abstract compositions that utilized cross sections of murrine (glass rods).
Paolo Venini’s best designs are thought to be his two-color Clessidre hourglasses, produced from 1957 onward, and the Fazzoletto (“handkerchief”) vase, designed with Bianconi in 1949. Bianconi’s masterworks are considered by many to be his Pezzato works — colorful vases with patterns that resemble those of a patchwork quilt.
Other noteworthy and highly collectible vintage Venini works include Ponti’s dual-tone stoppered bottles (circa 1948); rare glass sculptures from the Doge series by Stearns, the first American to design for the firm; Vignelli’s striped lanterns of the 1960s; the Occhi vases with eyelet-shaped patterns by Tobia Scarpa (son of Carlo); and, with their almost zen purity, the Bolle (“bubbles”) bottles designed by Wirkkala in 1968.
With these works — and many others by some of the creative titans of the 20th and 21st centuries — Venini has produced one of the truly great bodies of work in modern design.
Find antique and vintage Venini chandeliers, serveware, table lamps, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- 1960s Italy Venini Wall Sconce White Murano Glass and BrassBy Venini, Paolo VeniniLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenElegant large wall mount with Murano glass rods on a brass frame. Each clear Murano glass rod includes white stripes, making the glasses shimmer white. Heavy duty. With this light yo...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Multicolor Murano Glass Flush Mount by Tony Zuccheri for Venini, Italy 1960By Toni ZuccheriLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenElegant multicolor 'Volcane' wall sconce and ceiling light made of handblown Murano glass with clear and amber tones on a chromed frame. Designed by Tony Zuccheri for Venini, Italy i...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsChrome
- Large Wall Sconce Murano Flowers & Chrome Sputnik Venini for VeArt Italy 1960sBy VeArt, Paolo VeniniLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenLarge Murano glass wall sconce by Paolo Venini for VeArt, Italy with 15 clear glass flowers on a Sputnik chrome frame. Amazing eye-catching pieces designed in the 1960s, Italy. Meas...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsChrome
- Pair of Angelo Brotto Wall Sconces for Esperia Bronze & Murano Glass 1960sBy Esperia, Angelo BrottoLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenElegant large pair of italian wall sconces made of bronze and Murano glass in the 1960s by Esperia, designed by Angelo Brotto. Gem from the time. A real eye-catcher even unlit. Mea...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBronze
- Amber Murano Wall Sconce Glass & Chrome by Carlo Nason for Mazzega, Italy 1960sBy Carlo Nason, MazzegaLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenElegant Kalmar wall sconce made of handblown curved amber and transparent Murano glass mounted on a chromed back plate. Manufactured in Italy in the 1960s. Design: Carlo Nason. M...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsChrome
- 1 (of 8) Amber Murano Flush Mount & Sconce Glass by Carlo Nason for Kalmar 1960By J.T. KalmarLocated in Niederdorfelden, HessenElegant flush mount and wall sconce executed in handblown partially amber and clear Murano glass and chromed hardware designed by Carlo Nason. With this light you make a clear statem...Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Tomaso Buzzi Sconces for VeniniBy Tomaso Buzzi, VeniniLocated in Rovereta, SMEarly four of sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
$4,650 / set - Pair Venini Feather Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi 1930By Napoleone Martinuzzi, VeniniLocated in Hanover, MAGraceful original pair of glass "feather" sconces from Venini Murano and designed by Tomaso Buzzi circa 1930. Gold air twist down the centre stem. Bronze mounts. Rewired. Ready to mo...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBronze
$9,500 / set - Pair of Feather shaped glass sconces Murano glass by Tomaso BuzziBy Tomaso BuzziLocated in London, GBThese stunning wall lights feature a pair of feather-shaped glass shades, hand blown from clear and frosted white glass. The shades elegantly mount on an original brass structure, cr...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Pair Wall Sconces Tomaso Buzzi for Venini 1950sBy Tomaso Buzzi, VeniniLocated in Munich, DEPair of murano glass feather sconces attributed to Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italy, 1950. Pulegoso glass and filigrana glass mounted on brass frame...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
$3,211 / set - Pair of Murano glass and brass Sconces by Tomas Buzzi (attr) Italy 1930sBy Tomaso Buzzi, Gio PontiLocated in Argelato, BORare pair of small Art Deco wall lights in Murano glass, from an important villa in Venice, attributable to the Italian designer and architect Tomaso BuzziCategory
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Chandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for VeniniBy Venini, Tomaso BuzziLocated in Los Angeles, CAChandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa the 1940s. An extremely striking elegantly crafted chandelier comprising of multiple pressed glass in...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass