Gajna Decanter

Artist, designer and glass virtuoso Simone Crestani is a luminary in the world of glass art, combining time-honored tradition with innovative glassblowing techniques to create exquisite sculptures, vessels and modern objets d’art.

Born in 1984 in Marostica, near Venice, Crestani began working with glass at age 15 as an apprentice at the Massimo Lunardon glass factory. Following a 10-year apprenticeship, Crestani opened his atelier and studio in Camisano Vicentino in northern Italy in 2010.

Dedicated to research and exploring new glassblowing methods, Crestani has moved away from working with traditional Murano glass to borosilicate glass, using a specialized flameworking technique he calls “hollow sculpture.”

By using borosilicate glass, which is nearly unbreakable, Crestani can shape and mold his pieces with extraordinary detail. Nature inspires many of his works, such as his Serpentine barware, bird decanters, octopus-inspired Polpo pitchers, antler-topped Africa Trophy bottles, molecular Alchemica glassware line and beautiful candelabras adorned with roses. Other notable Crestani creations include his luminous E-Sumi wall sconces and table lamps, influenced by traditional Japanese sumi-e paintings.

Crestani has collaborated with leading designers such as Giordano Viganò, with whom he made several sculptural wood and glass tables, and Italian glass expert Roberto Giulio Rida for Bernd Goeckler Antiques’ Duetto collection. Among its pieces are the bonsai-like Avatar chandelier and the Scarabei mirror, with glass scarabs embedded in its circular frame.

Since 2006, Crestani’s works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions around the world, including PAD Paris, the Venice Biennale and Salon Art + Design in New York.

On 1stDibs, find a range of Simone Crestani serveware, decorative objects, lighting and more.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

Your dining room table is a place where stories are shared and personalities shine — why not treat yourself and your guests to the finest antique and vintage glass, silver, ceramics and serveware for your meals?

Just like the people who sit around your table, your serveware has its own stories and will help you create new memories with your friends and loved ones. From ceramic pottery to glass vases, set your table with serving pieces that add even more personality, color and texture to your dining experience.

Invite serveware from around the world to join your table settings. For special occasions, dress up your plates with a striking Imari charger from 19th-century Japan or incorporate Richard Ginori’s Italian porcelain plates into your dining experience. Celebrate the English ritual of afternoon tea with a Japanese tea set and an antique Victorian kettle. No matter how big or small your dining area is, there is room for the stories of many cultures and varied histories, and there are plenty of ways to add pizzazz to your meals.

Add different textures and colors to your table with dinner plates and pitchers of ceramic and silver or a porcelain lidded tureen, a serving dish with side handles that is often used for soups. Although porcelain and ceramic are both made in a kiln, porcelain is made with more refined clay and is more durable than ceramic because it is denser. The latter is ideal for statement pieces — your tall mid-century modern ceramic vase is a guaranteed conversation starter. And while your earthenware or stoneware is maybe better suited to everyday lunches as opposed to the fine bone china you’ve reserved for a holiday meal, handcrafted studio pottery coffee mugs can still be a rich expression of your personal style.

“My motto is ‘Have fun with it,’” says author and celebrated hostess Stephanie Booth Shafran. “It’s yin and yang, high and low, Crate & Barrel with Christofle silver. I like to mix it up — sometimes in the dining room, sometimes on the kitchen banquette, sometimes in the loggia. It transports your guests and makes them feel more comfortable and relaxed.”

Introduce elegance at supper with silver, such as a platter from celebrated Massachusetts silversmith manufacturer Reed and Barton or a regal copper-finish flatware set designed by International Silver Company, another New England company that was incorporated in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1898. By then, Meriden had already earned the nickname “Silver City” for its position as a major hub of silver manufacturing.

At the bar, try a vintage wine cooler to keep bottles cool before serving or an Art Deco decanter and whiskey set for after-dinner drinks — there are many possibilities and no wrong answers for tableware, barware and serveware. Explore an expansive collection of antique and vintage glass, ceramics, silver and serveware today on 1stDibs.