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.
Rare Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Murano Glass & Brass Wall Sconces, Pair, 1940s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Brescia, Brescia
An exceptionally elegant and scarce pair of wall sconces designed by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, produced in Murano during the 1940s. Perfectly embodying Buzzi's refined architectural l...
Brass
Pair of Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Murano Glass Sconces Green Gold, 1940s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Brescia, Brescia
An exceptionally refined pair of wall sconces designed by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini during the 1940s, embodying the architect's unmistakable ability to translate classical elegance int...
Brass
Set of Four Murano Glass Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy, c. 1932.
By Venini, Tomaso Buzzi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Elegant and refined, this set of four Italian wall sconces was designed by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, circa 1932. Each sconce features a softly flared pink Murano glass shade accented ...
Murano Glass
Pair of Murano Glass Gold Leaf Sconces, 1940s
Located in Florence, IT
Pair of Murano glass gold leaf sconces, brass structure, one bulb each lamp. These sconces are in Murano hand blown thick glass with gold flecks...
Brass
Large Pair of Venini Murano Glass Sconces
By Venini
Located in New York, NY
A very dramatic, large and beautiful pair of Venini style sconces. These are located in our warehouse in Italy and have a lead time for arrival of 8-10 weeks from time of purchase. ...
Crystal
Pair of Art Deco Venini Reticello Murano Glass Sconces 1940s
By Venini
Located in Rome, IT
Pair of amazing and rare Sconces with a precious hand blown "reticello " Murano glass cup with a delicate pure crystal cascade , by Venini, 1940. Three E 14 light bulbs. Timeless de...
Blown Glass
Pair Venini Feather Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi 1930
By Venini, Napoleone Martinuzzi
Located in Hanover, MA
Graceful 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...
Bronze
Chandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini
By Venini, Tomaso Buzzi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Chandelier 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...
Brass
$2,825Sale Price|25% Off
H 9.45 in W 9.85 in D 3.94 in
Venini Wall Lamps, Murano Glass & Brass, 1940s Italy
Located in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District
These Venini wall lamps, produced in Italy during the 1940s, are refined examples of early modern Italian lighting that merge Murano glass artistry with understated brass detailing. ...
Brass
$2,850 / set
H 9 in W 9.75 in D 11.5 in
Wonderful Pair Venini Italian Art Deco Murano Art Glass Brass Wall Sconces
By Venini
Located in Roslyn, NY
A Wonderful Pair Of Venini Style Italian Art Deco With Murano Art Glass Shades Set On Brass Housing Wall Sconces. Mid-Century Modern Venetian sconces of organic design with Hollywood...
Brass
Murano Glass Chandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy, 1930s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Nicolosi, IT
Elegant Murano glass chandelier attributed to Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy, 1930s. The design is centered around a slender vertical structure enriched with sculptural blown-glass e...
Brass
$24,000 / set
H 11.5 in W 5 in D 5.5 in
Venini Set of Four Petali Gold Leaf Murano Glass Sconces Model 5825, 1970s
By Venini
Located in New York, NY
Venini rare set of four exquisite 'Petali' sconces model 5825 in transparent Murano glass with gold leaf inclusions, Italy, 1970s. These sculptural wall lights have a lovely organic...
Brass, Gold Leaf
Venini Pair of Sconces Murano Glass Brass, 1940
By Venini
Located in Milano, IT
Venini pair of sconces Murano glass brass, 1940.
Brass
$7,900 / set
H 22.05 in W 13 in D 7.88 in
Pair of Toni Zuccheri for Venini Murano Eliche Glass Wall Sconces
By Toni Zuccheri, Venini
Located in Saint-Ouen, IDF
A striking pair of Italian wall sconces designed by Toni Zuccheri for Venini in the 1970s. These sculptural fixtures are composed of layered hand-blown Eliche Murano glass elements i...
Murano Glass
Chandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy 1930s
Located in New York, NY
Large Venini chandelier made of Murano glass with a white central glass body surrounded by turquoise blue leaf-shaped tendrils. The design was made by Tomaso Buzzi between 1931 and 1...
Glass
Sold
H 9.06 in W 9.06 in D 9.85 in
rare original Large pair of Tomaso Buzzi sconces in italian Murano glass
By Tomaso Buzzi
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Large pair of Italian sconces by designer Tomaso Buzzi from the 60s. Structure and shade in thick Muranno glass in gold / yellow hues. Very fine vintage condition, with slight traces...
Murano Glass
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H 18.51 in W 8.67 in D 5.52 in
Tomaso Buzzi Mid-century Modern Gold Leaf Murano Glass Brass Sconces, 50s, Pair
By Venini, Tomaso Buzzi
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Pair of leaf-shaped appliques in Murano glass attributed to Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italia, 1950. Pulegoso glass and filigree glass with gold dust, mounted on a brass structure. Prod...
Brass
Sold
H 17.52 in W 3.94 in D 4.73 in
Pair of "Faether" Murano Glass Wall Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, 1930s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Wiesbaden, Hessen
A beautiful pair of large art deco gilt brass and Murano glass "Feather" sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy, circa 1930s. Socket: each one x E 27 or E26 (US) for standard scr...
Brass
Sold
H 17.72 in W 5.91 in D 3.94 in
Pair of Murano Glass "Feather" Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italy, 1930s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Niederdorfelden, Hessen
Pair of murano glass "Feather" Sconces Model 413 by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Italy, 1932-33. Pulegoso glass and filigrana glass mounted on brass frame. Exhibited at the 5th Milan Tr...
Brass
Sold
H 18 in W 5.5 in D 4.5 in
Tomaso Buzzi for Venini Pair of Glass Feather Sconces Model 413, Italy, 1932-1933
By Tomaso Buzzi
Located in New York, NY
Feather-shaped, uncolored, Pulegoso curved glass with quill in opaque gold filigrana glass, mounted on brass frame consisting of stack of rings and backplate. This model was exhibite...
Brass
Sold
H 8.67 in W 4.34 in D 5.91 in
Mid-Century Modern Venini Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi in "Pulegoso" Glass
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Merida, Yucatan
Early pair of sconces by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini in Murano glass in the "Pulegoso" Technique and brass, circa 1935 Similar if not identical models can be found in Buzzi´s literatur...
Brass
Sold
H 5.25 in W 9.5 in D 6 in
Pair of 1930s, Italian Wall Lights Attributed to Tomasso Buzzi for Venini
By Tomaso Buzzi
Located in London, GB
Opaque cream Murano glass semi-circular wall sconces with decorative light blue and green glass detailing.
Glass