Salviati Perles 3

Not only did Salviati support the revival of Venice’s flagging Murano glass industry in the 19th century, but the company also became world-renowned for its innovative glassmaking techniques, revolutionizing the art of mosaics and glassware design.

The story of Salviati glass begins with Vicenza-born lawyer and entrepreneur Antonio Salviati. His love of Murano glass art and mosaics inspired him to establish his own mosaic and glass manufacturing firm, the Salviati Dott. Antonio fu Bartolomeo company, in Venice in 1859. Glassmakers in the region had been weathering a dismal political climate and growing competition in neighboring countries, and Salviati had initially hoped to revive Murano glassmaking in order to restore deteriorating mosaics in local cathedrals.

In 1864, Salviati exhibited a monumental glass mosaic at the “First Glassmakers’ Exhibition,” which won the gold medal. His award-winning mosaic solidified his company’s reputation as a first-rate glassmaker, which soon drew the attention of international investors, particularly investors from Great Britain.

In 1866, Salviati and C. opened in London with the support of historian William Drake and diplomat Sir Austen Henry Layard. Meanwhile, the Salviati company established its headquarters on the Rio dei Vetrai in Murano.

Throughout the late 1800s, Salviati and C. expanded its production to include household glassware and serveware and decorative objects such as cups, glasses, amphoras and vials. Salviati also received commissions to produce mosaics for St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament in London, the Paris Opera House and the Viceroy of Egypt’s Palace in Alexandria.

After Antonio Salviati died in 1890, his sons Giulio and Silvio took over the company. The Barovier family — a dynasty that stretches as far back as 1295 — bought the manufacturer in 1883, and a glass master named Maurizio Camerino, who had honed his skills at Salviati, was appointed to lead the company. Camerino’s children took the reins following the glass master’s death in 1931 and launched a successful lighting line of table lamps and chandeliers after World War II.

Throughout the 20th century, Salviati participated in several Venice Biennale exhibitions from 1958 to 1972. In 1962, the company was awarded the Compasso d’Oro prize for the Marco vase, designed by architect Sergio Asti.

Since its acquisition by the Umana group in 2015, Salviati has collaborated with numerous renowned designers such as Federico Peri, Davide Bruno, Renzo Stellon, Alberto Lago and Anna Gili. Salviati's pieces can be found in the collections of the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, Germany, the Museum of Modern Art and Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the Eretz Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Murano Glass Museum in Venice.

Find antique Salviati glass that includes bowls, vases, 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.

Whether it’s a Chinese Han dynasty glazed ceramic wine vessel, a work of Murano glass or a hand-painted Scandinavian modern stoneware piece, a fine vase brings a piece of history into your space as much as it adds a sophisticated dynamic. 

Like sculptures or paintings, antique and vintage vases are considered works of fine art. Once offered as tributes to ancient rulers, vases continue to be gifted to heads of state today. Over time, decorative porcelain vases have become family heirlooms to be displayed prominently in our homes — loved pieces treasured from generation to generation.

The functional value of vases is well known. They were traditionally utilized as vessels for carrying dry goods or liquids, so some have handles and feature an opening at the top (where they flare back out). While artists have explored wildly sculptural alternatives over time, the most conventional vase shape is characterized by a bulbous base and a body with shoulders where the form curves inward.

Owing to their intrinsic functionality, vases are quite possibly versatile in ways few other art forms can match. They’re typically taller than they are wide. Some have a neck that offers height and is ideal for the stems of cut flowers. To pair with your mid-century modern decor, the right vase will be an elegant receptacle for leafy snake plants on your teak dining table, or, in the case of welcoming guests on your doorstep, a large ceramic floor vase for long tree branches or sticks — perhaps one crafted in the Art Nouveau style — works wonders.

Interior designers include vases of every type, size and style in their projects — be the canvas indoors or outdoors — often introducing a splash of color and a range of textures to an entryway or merely calling attention to nature’s asymmetries by bringing more organically shaped decorative objects into a home.

On 1stDibs, you can browse our collection of vases by material, including ceramic, glass, porcelain and more. Sizes range from tiny bud vases to massive statement pieces and every size in between.