Reclining Nude Abstract Italian Murano Art Glass Sculpture by, Oscar Zanetti

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Reclining Nude Abstract Italian Murano Art Glass Sculpture by, Oscar Zanetti

About the Item

A Late 20th century murano Italian Glass "Abstract Reclining Nude" decorated with swirling multicolor accents known as "chalecedony" or calcedonian glass decoration cased in clear heavy glass applied to a black glass pedestal. The base is signed "Zanetti Oscar" and further retains its original paper labels. The glass is highly reactive toward light. Depending on the light whether artificial or natural light the color will react with different intensity. Bio: Born in 1961, Oscar Zanetti was named after his grandfather, the founder of the Zanetti Murano SRL furnace. He attended the Art Institute of Venice and trained in glass factories such as Venini, La Murrina and Barovier & Toso. In 1986, he joined the Zanetti family furnace. Oscar's family connections to glass making include Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti and also his father Licio Zanetti. Oscar has collaborated with Daniele Lucchetta and other artists on many of his pieces. Notes: Chalcedony ("Calcedonia”) glass enjoyed great popularity among the wealthy within and outside Venetian Republic in the 15th and 16th century due to its exotic chromatic effects and the look that imitated expensive semi-precious stones. It was used to create cups, pitchers, goblets, bowls and various other tableware, as well as decorative pieces for the noble homes, such as vases and sculptures. Later during 17th and 18th centuries Murano masters started adding molten Avventurina glass to chalcedony vitreous paste, in order to add sparkly accents to the look. As with so many Murano glass techniques, the recipe for making chalcedony glass was lost at the end of the 18th century. Luckily, in the mid-19th century a glass master on Murano named Lorenzo Radi rediscovered the secret of making the chalcedony glass paste that was used to achieve the looks very similar to the ones created in the 16th century. A precursor to the chalcedony glass revival of the 20th and 21st centuries, Radi's style focused on simple linear forms, letting the beautiful chromatic combinations and veined designs take the center stage. Contemporary Murano glass artists took interest in the potential of chalcedony glass and Radi's designs, and have been creating contemporary art glass pieces in chalcedony techniques, which one may see in various galleries and private residences. This makes chalcedony one of the oldest decorative glass-making techniques that are still in use today.

Creator:
Seguso Vetri d'Arte (Maker),Oscar Zanetti (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
Style:
Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Art Glass,Hand-Crafted,Polished
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
Late 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1970s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Englewood, NJ
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU888827102602

Shop All Seguso Vetri d'Arte

Seguso Vetri d'Arte

Members of the Seguso family have been leading figures in the manufacture of glass on the Venetian island of Murano since the late 1300s, but for most collectors of vintage design the name evokes two companies formed in the first half of the 20th century. Seguso Vetri d’Arte, born from a small consortium of master glass artisans that included Archimede Seguso (1909–99), thrived under the artistic directorship of Flavio Poli (1900–84), a designer with an eye for modern forms, color and pattern. Vetreria Archimede Seguso, meanwhile, was founded in 1946, when Seguso opened his own atelier in order to employ classical techniques in the making of modern glassware.

The owners of Seguso Vetri d’Arte were justly proud of their skills as craftsmen, but they were not worldly aesthetes — and they knew it. Poli had studied at the Art Institute of Venice, originally working in ceramics before switching mediums and taking up the art of glass. He introduced new simple forms to the genre — the best known of his designs being the Valva, which resembles a clamshell in profile — and employed several novel techniques such as corroso, which gives glass a rough, emery-board-like finish. Poli’s most collectible works are his sommerso pieces, made with a layering process in which clear and colored-glass vessels are “submerged” within one another, producing a kind of nesting-doll effect in striking, elegant vases with bands of separate and overlapped hues.

At his eponymous workshop, Archimede Seguso often favored highly decorative, age-old techniques employed with modern restraint. His layered-glass Losanghe vessels have the look of an abstract checkerboard while his free-form Merletto vases have delicate, lacy patterns created by painstakingly twisting two heated glass straws to create helixes around the walls of the piece.

Though different in their scope and mission, both of these furnaces bearing the Seguso name created some of the most beautiful, alluring and exquisitely crafted works in all of modern design.