Purho Murano Sculptures

"Composizione 40100 #11" (Maestoso con gioco), 2019, glazed earthenware, measures: H 41 x38 x 38cm Mix of hand-made and 3D printed - Unique piece Andrea Salvatori (Italy, 1975) is an internationally renowned visual artist working with the ceramic medium to realize often ironic and witty sculptures, sometimes involving a diverse selection of found objects, such as Murano glass vases, Meissen Porcelain miniatures or Ginori period ceramics sourced in flea markets around Europe. Salvatori’s works often begin with these items and proceed by the addition of elements masterfully created by the artist, generating an unexpected semantic shift. The result is unique, encompassing pop culture and kitsch aesthetics: a witty and effective way to turn reality upside-down and at the same time a powerful combination of exquisite craftsmanship and genuine irony. Andrea Salvatori was born on 3 of March 1975 in Faenza (Ra), Italy; he has graduated at the Istituto d’arte for Ceramic in Faenza in 1995, and he then graduated with a Degree in Sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Bologna in 2000. During his studies, Andrea learned the secrets of ceramics from the creative duo Bertozzi & Casoni having worked as an apprentice in their studio for many years at the same way as during Renaissance artists learned their practice with their Masters. Since 1997 he had several individual and collective exhibitions. In 2009 he won the first prize at the 56th edition of the prestigious Premio Faenza, the International Contest of Contemporary Art Ceramics, for which he classified second in the prior edition. In 2011 he classified second at the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic...

"Add an Artistic Touch to Your Space with the Captivating Dali Vase Glass Object'' Elevate your interior design with the mesmerizing beauty of the Dali Vase Glass Object. Inspired by...

This geometric sculpture evoking the elongated shape of a TOTEM, was designed by Karim Rashid in 2006 as part of a limited edition of 199 pieces. Each of the four pieces put vertical...

"TuttiTappi (Surprise!)", 2022, porcelain found object, earthenware and 18k gold Measures: H 34 x 16 cm Real 18K gold has been applied through third firing on the internal sculpt...

Designed by Karim Rashid as a poetic ode to glass, this centerpiece is a stunning piece of functional decor that will be an elegant centerpiece both alone and with an overflowing arr...

This centerpiece is a striking example of modern aesthetic and traditional craftsmanship. It was designed in 2013 by Karim Rashid and crafted of mouth-blown Murano glass. It is part ...

Part of the Queen and King collections, this vase was designed in 2013 by Karim Rashid and is distinctive for its sinuous silhouette that is opulent and modern. The piece is crafted ...

This striking, multicolored vase in white clay features a mouth in the shape of a cross. The outside of the cross is finished in vivid yellow with an orange top edge, while the interior is in green with a dark bottom. This piece was design in 2006 by Rashid Karim...

"TuttiTappi (Surprise!)", 2022, porcelain found object, earthenware, and 18K gold H 35 x 20 cm Real 18K gold has been applied through third firing on the internal sculptural elem...

Karim Rashid for Leonardo Germany Limited Edition New Move Silver Glass Vase, ca 1999. Measures 8” high, base 3-1/2” wide, and mouth 2-1/4” wide. There is a small scratch of silver finish/coating on glass (we've posted an image of the interior and exterior at the area of the scratch). There is also a faint area of small blemishes at the base See images for more detail. If there’s one thing karim rashid hates, it’s trophies. The 40-year-old designer has more than 40 of them, from big international ones like the 1999 George Nelson Award (given for breakthrough furniture design), to quaint little Canadian ones like Designer of the Year 2001. “It came with a little pin,” says Rashid, “and a … a … very nice …” He tries to describe the shape of the award with his hands but gives up. “It’s time that whole trophy thing changes. It’s kitsch. They’re functionless things.” Rashid was asked to design one for the DaimlerChrysler Design Awards (he’s a past recipient). “I was going to make it electro-luminescent. When the lights go out, it has a sensor so it turns on,” he says. But the trophy-as-night-light, a reminder of one’s worth in the darkest hours, didn’t impress Chrysler’s people. He never heard back. They may well be gnawing their knuckles over that decision right now because Rashid’s conquest of the realm of product design is all but complete. A lush and suitably worshipful retrospective of his work, Karim Rashid: I Want to Change the World (Thames & Hudson; 249 pages), hits Australasian bookstores this month. There was a crowd around anything with his stamp on it-including stools, chess sets and storage units-at the recent International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. More than 2 million North Americans are throwing their rubbish into a receptacle he designed, while 750,000 or so park their rears on one of his cheapo plastic chairs. It’s not just in North America. He has been dubbed Der Poet des Plastiks by a retailer in Germany and the prolifico progettista Americano by Interni magazine in Italy. Trophies he may despise, but accolades Rashid can handle. The problem with being the Most Famous Industrial Designer in All the Americas is that you’re still less famous than someone who got kicked off Survivor the first week. Most people cannot name the designer of one nonclothing item in their homes. Rashid, who was born in Egypt, raised in Canada and is living in New York City, is more than happy to bring an end to this anonymity. Not just because he wants to be famous, although there seems to be that, but because he believes design should be a bigger part of the social discourse. “I have been almost alone in this country, trying to make design become a public subject,” he says. His chief method of persuasion is to make the banal better so that people notice design more. He likes creating expensive furniture and perfume bottles just fine, but what really gets his juices going is the everyday: manhole covers, a cremation urn, disposable cigarette lighters, garbage bins, salt and pepper shakers, plastic pens. “I want American Standard to come to me to do the toilets for Home Depot,” he says. In many ways Rashid is more like an itinerant industrial evangelist than a designer. He traveled 200 days last year. He claims to have been to every major mall in America, where he signs his products in high-end design stores and trolls about observing humans interacting with the objects around them. He has taught at design schools for more than a decade, and his work has been in 11 art shows in the past eight months. But mostly he has proselytized the corporate barbarians. And like any good missionary, he has learned to speak the language of his converts. One of the first things he does when he gets new clients is tour their factories to understand their manufacturing capacity. He also visits the retail outlets to see how the product might be displayed. And he really knows how to sell, especially himself. “I work with a guy in L.A.,” says Rashid, declining to name him. “He made a lot of really bad furniture. His business was hand-to-mouth. I proposed seven or eight projects. The pieces I’ve done for him have already become iconic.” The subtitle of his monograph, I Want to Change the World, is not ironic, just characteristically immodest. “Most industrial-design studios try to interpret a client’s needs and come up with a style,” says Paul Rowan, co-founder of housewares manufacturer Umbra. “Karim has his own personal vision.” It helps that Rashid’s vision incorporates things that Rowan needs, like a design that will stack and ship easily and that creates little waste in the making. Rashid’s father was a set designer for Canadian TV who rearranged the family furniture every Sunday. So perhaps it was ordained that Karim would grow up to become one of the pioneers in non-cheesy plastic, making objects that have energy and personality but aren’t wacky. He, like many of his generation, has championed the could-only-be-designed-with-computers blob. But his is not just a blob for its own sake. His Oh Chair...

This striking sculpture represents a colorful TOTEM in white clay with each of its five elements featuring a different geometric shape and solid, vivid ...

"Composizione 40100 #01" (Mesto con Elegia), 2019, glazed earthenware, measures: H 32x34 x 34cm Mix of hand-made and 3D printed - Unique piece signed by the artist. Certificate of a...