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 "Tulip-Shaped Lattimo Incamiciato" Sconces, Venini, 1930s
By Venini, Tomaso Buzzi
Located in Brescia, Brescia
An exceptional and extraordinarily rare pair of tulip-shaped wall sconces designed by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Murano, circa 1932–1934. These museum-quality examples of Italian deco...
Brass, Gold Leaf
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 Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
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 Incamiciato Sconces by Vistosi
By Vistosi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage pair of Italian wall lights with Murano glass shades hand blown in cream exterior and white interior using incamiciato technique / Made in Italy by Vistosi, circa 1960s Heigh...
Murano Glass
Large Italian Venini Murano glass wall lamp from the 1930s
By Venini
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Large Italian wall lamp from the 1930s by the Venetian manufacturer Venini. Solid brass structure and shade formed with three thick purple Murano glasses. Simple and elegant design. ...
Brass
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
$6,923 / set
H 7.29 in W 4.73 in D 6.3 in
Rare Set of Four Carlo Scarpa Reticello Murano Glass Sconces for Venini, 1940s
By Venini, Carlo Scarpa
Located in Brescia, Brescia
An exceptionally elegant and rare set of four wall sconces designed by Carlo Scarpa for Venini, Murano, circa 1940s. Each sconce features a beautifully proportioned cup-shaped diffu...
Brass
Venini Pair of Sconces Murano Glass Brass, 1940
By Venini
Located in Milano, IT
Venini pair of sconces Murano glass brass, 1940.
Brass
$12,000 / set
H 11.5 in W 5 in D 5.5 in
Venini Rare Pair of Petali Gold Leaf Murano Glass Sconces Model 5825, Italy
By Venini
Located in New York, NY
Venini rare pair of exquisite midcentury 1970s 'Petali' sconces model 5825 in transparent Murano glass with gold leaf inclusions, Italy, 1970s. These sculptural wall lights have a l...
Brass, Gold Leaf
Pair Venini Feather Sconces by Tomaso Buzzi 1930
By Napoleone Martinuzzi, Venini
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
Vintage Venini Murano Glass Wall Sconces, Italy, 1930s
By Paolo Venini
Located in New York, NY
An elegant and rare pair of Venini Murano glass wall lights; the delicate opaline circular glass light is complemented at the top border with the precious reticello technique. The gl...
Brass
Murano Glass Chandelier by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Italy, 1930s
By Venini, Tomaso Buzzi
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
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
Italian Mid-Century Venini Murano Glass Sconces
By Venini
Located in North Bergen, NJ
Stunning Italian Mid-Century Modern sconces by Venini. Having a brass frame and beautiful glass prisms. Each of the prisms are solid glass, measuring 8 inches each. Three available.
$2,496Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 0.4 in W 0.4 in D 0.4 in
Pair of Murano glass and brass Sconces by Tomas Buzzi (attr) Italy 1930s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Gio Ponti
Located in Argelato, BO
Rare pair of small Art Deco wall lights in Murano glass, from an important villa in Venice, attributable to the Italian designer and architect Tomaso Buzzi
Brass
Sold
H 14.38 in W 4.73 in D 6.5 in
Rare Pair of Tomaso Buzzi "Lattimo Incamiciato" Gold Leaf Sconces, Venini, 1930s
By Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
Located in Brescia, Brescia
An exceptional and extraordinarily rare pair of monumental wall sconces designed by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini, Murano, circa 1932–1934. Museum-quality examples of Italian decorative l...
Gold Leaf, Brass
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
Sold
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 Tomaso Buzzi, Venini
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