Beginning in the 1930s — and throughout the postwar years especially — Venini & Co. played a leading role in the revival of Italy’s high-end glass industry, pairing innovative modernist designers with the skilled artisans who created extraordinary chandeliers, sconces and other lighting in the centuries-old glass workshops on the Venetian island of Murano.
While the company’s co-founder, Paolo Venini (1895–1959), was himself a highly talented glassware designer, his true genius was to invite forward-thinking Italian and international designers to Murano’s hallowed workshops to create Venini pieces — among them Gio Ponti, Massimo Vignelli, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, Thomas Stearns of the United States and Fulvio Bianconi.
Paolo Venini trained and practiced as a lawyer for a time, though his family had been involved with glassmaking for generations. After initially buying a share in a Venetian glass firm — he and antiques dealer Giacomo Cappellin established Vetri Soffiati Cappellin Venini & C. in 1921 — Venini took over the company as his own in 1925, and under his direction, it produced mainly classical Baroque designs.
In 1932, Venini hired the young Carlo Scarpa— who would later distinguish himself as an architect — as his lead designer. Scarpa, working in concert with practiced glass artisans, completely modernized Venini, introducing simple, pared-down forms; bright primary colors; and bold patterns such as stripes, banding and abstract compositions that utilized cross sections of murrine (glass rods).
Paolo Venini’s best designs are thought to be his two-color Clessidre hourglasses, produced from 1957 onward, and the Fazzoletto (“handkerchief”) vase, designed with Bianconi in 1949. Bianconi’s masterworks are considered by many to be his Pezzato works — colorful vases with patterns that resemble those of a patchwork quilt.
Other noteworthy and highly collectible vintage Venini works include Ponti’s dual-tone stoppered bottles (circa 1948); rare glass sculptures from the Doge series by Stearns, the first American to design for the firm; Vignelli’s striped lanterns of the 1960s; the Occhi vases with eyelet-shaped patterns by Tobia Scarpa (son of Carlo); and, with their almost zen purity, the Bolle (“bubbles”) bottles designed by Wirkkala in 1968.
With these works — and many others by some of the creative titans of the 20th and 21st centuries — Venini has produced one of the truly great bodies of work in modern design.
Find antique and vintage Venini chandeliers, serveware, table lamps, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
21st Century Abat-Jour Table Lamp in Améthyste/Violet/Wistaria by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
The light turns on and precious glass pearls start shining, brightening up the space with their intense hues. Every single sphere is crafted using the special "Balloton" technique, f...
Glass
21st Century Argea Large Table Lamp in Milk-White by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Through the power of fire, glass encloses silver or golden leaves, glowing brightly and creating unique optical illusions that evoke the sea. Argea shines its inner light, and become...
Glass
21st Century Abat-Jour Lampshade Large Table Lamp in Grey by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
The light turns on and precious glass pearls start shining, brightening up the space with their intense hues. Every single sphere is crafted using the special "Balloton" technique, f...
Glass
21st Century Abat-Jour Floor Lamp in Améthyste/Purple/Wistaria by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
The light turns on and precious glass pearls start shining, brightening up the space with their intense hues. Every single sphere is crafted using the special "Balloton" technique, f...
Glass
21st Century Abat-Jour Lampshade Small Table Lamp in Grey by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
The light turns on and precious glass pearls start shining, brightening up the space with their intense hues. Every single sphere is crafted using the special "Balloton" technique, f...
Glass
21st Century Balloton Lamp Wall Light in Grey by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
The latest re-edition features bright new elements, complex shapes and different uses. But it stays true to the Balloton technique, which lends a unique ...
Glass
21st Century Diamantei Medium Chandeliers in Satin Grey by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Exquisitely Baroque in style, regal in appearance, and available in a variety of sizes and colors, it is the undisputed star of any setting. A series of alternating soft and sharp cu...
Glass
21st Century Ettore Sottsass Collection Kiritam Table Lamp in Aquamarine/Milk-Wh
By Venini, Ettore Sottsass
Located in murano, IT
Its name evokes its ancient meaning: "crown", from the Sanskrit term kirīṭam. Its shape recalls those of the most worshipped and depicted Hindu deities. But gold gives way to glass. ...
Glass
21st Century Muse Glass Sculpture Table Lamp in Green Grass by Fabio Novembre
By Fabio Novembre, Venini
Located in murano, IT
Just like the Metaphysical artists from the early 1900s, Fabio Novembre depicts his muses as faceless figures, intent on not seeing nor hearing the tragic events that dominated the e...
Glass
21st Century Zoe Small Table Lamp in Grey by Doriana E Massimiliano Fuksas
By Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas, Venini
Located in murano, IT
From the ancient tracks of desert rocks to present-day Venice. Zoe – designed by Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas in 2014 – is a paradigm, a place where different times and spaces com...
21st Century Vittoriale 3-Light Wall Sconce in Crystal by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Construction of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Vittoriale degli Italiani started in the 1920s. In the same decade, Napoleone Martinuzzi designed a unique work that draws inspiration and owes ...
21st Century Porpora 3-Light Wall Sconce in Crystal by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Essential decorations and a sleek structure with simple arms and cups, for a minimalist design by VENINI. Born in 1924 yet timeless, it has stood the test of time. It is just as mode...
21st Century Anni Trenta Luce Small Table Lamp in Milk-White by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Art Nouveau, Charleston, the dawn of a new design era. The 1930s, celebrated by VENINI in 1997 and wistfully recalled with essential and innovative shapes like those that marked the ...
21st Century Anni Trenta Luce Large Table Lamp in Straw-Yellow by Venini
By Venini
Located in murano, IT
Art Nouveau, Charleston, the dawn of a new design era. The 1930s, celebrated by VENINI in 1997 and wistfully recalled with essential and innovative shapes like those that marked the ...
Murano Blown Glass Contemporary Pendant Light Design by Peter Marino for Venini
By Peter Marino, Venini
Located in murano, IT
Cilindro 893.65 Peter Marino’s work is notoriously provocative. The Rotondo, Cilindro, and Parallelo lamps are no exception: using the “Fasce” technique, the artist hot-works colour...
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Venini, Pendant lamp, prod. Venini 1960s
By Venini
Located in Rivoli, IT
Beautiful blue glass chandelier Venini production 1960s
Glass