Furniture

“Poliedri” chandelier designed by Carlo Scarpa and produced by the Italian manufacturer Venini in, 1958. Made of opaline Murano glass. Born in Venice on June 2nd, 1906, Carlo Scarpa began working at a very early age. Only a year after he had first qualified as an architect in 1926, he began working for the Murano glassmakers Cappellin & Co. in a consultative capacity; from 1927, he began to experiment with the Murano glass, and this research not only gave him excellent results here but would also inform his progress for many years to come. Between 1935 and 1937, as he entered his thirties, Carlo Scarpa accepted his first important commission, the renovation of Venice’s Cà Foscari. He adapted the spaces of this stately University building which stands on the banks of the Grand Canal, creating rooms for the Dean’s offices and a new hall for academic ceremonies; Mario Sironi and Mario De Luigi were charged with doing the restoration work on the frescos. After 1945, Carlo Scarpa found himself constantly busy with new commissions, including various furnishings and designs for the renovation of Venice’s Hotel Bauer and designing a tall building in Padua and a residential area in Feltre, which are all worth mention. One of his key works, despite its relatively modest diminished proportions, was the first of many works which were to follow in the nineteen fifties: the [bookshop known as the] Padiglione del Libro, which stands in Venice’s Giardini di Castello and shows clearly Scarpa’s passion for the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. In the years which were to follow, after he had met the American architect, Scarpa repeated similar experiments on other occasions, as can be seen, in particular, in the sketches he drew up in 1953 for villa Zoppas in Conegliano, which show some of his most promising work. However, this work unfortunately never came to fruition. Carlo Scarpa later created three museum layouts to prove pivotal in terms of how twentieth-century museums were to be set up from then on. Between 1955 and 1957, he completed extension work on Treviso’s Gipsoteca Canoviana [the museum that houses Canova’s sculptures] in Possagno, taking a similar experimental approach to the one he used for the Venezuelan Pavilion at [Venice’s] Giardini di Castello which he was building at the same time (1954-56). In Possagno Carlo Scarpa was to create one of his greatest ever works, which inevitably bears comparison with two other museum layouts that he was working on over the same period, those of the Galleria Nazionale di Sicilia, housed in the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo (1953-55) and at the Castelvecchio in Verona (1957- 1974), all of which were highly acclaimed, adding to his growing fame. Two other buildings, which are beautifully arranged in spatial terms, can be added to this long list of key works that were started and, in some cases, even completed during the nineteen fifties. After winning the Olivetti award for architecture in 1956, Scarpa began work in Venice’s Piazza San Marco on an area destined to house products made by the Industrial manufacturers Ivrea. Over the same period (1959-1963), he also worked on renovation and restoration of the gardens and ground floor of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, which many consider being one of his greatest works. While he busied himself working on-site at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Carlo Scarpa also began work building a villa in Udine for the Veritti family. To shed some light on the extent to which his work evolved over the years, it may perhaps be useful to compare this work with that of his very last building, villa Ottolenghi Bardolino, which was near to completion at the time of his sudden death in 1978. Upon completion of villa Veritti over the next ten years, without ever letting up on his work on renovation and layouts, Scarpa accepted some highly challenging commissions which were to make the most of his formal skills, working on the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa as well as another theatre in Vicenza. Towards the end of this decade, in 1969, Rina Brion commissioned Carlo Scarpa to build the Brion Mausoleum in San Vito d’Altivole (Treviso), a piece he continued to work on right up until the moment of his death. Nevertheless, even though he was totally absorbed by work on this mausoleum, there are plenty of other episodes which can offer some insight into the final years of his career. As work on the San Vito d’Altivole Mausoleum began to lessen from 1973, Carlo Scarpa began work building the new headquarters for the Banca Popolare di Verona. He drew up plans that were surprisingly different from the work he was carrying out at the same time on the villa Ottolenghi. However, the plans Carlo Scarpa drew up, at different times, for a monument in Brescia’s Piazza della Loggia commemorating victims of the terrorist attack on May 28th, 1974, make a sharp contrast to the work he carried out in Verona, almost as if there is a certain hesitation after so many mannered excesses. The same Pietas that informs his designs for the Piazza Della Loggia can also be seen in the presence of the water that flows through the Brion Mausoleum, almost as if to give a concrete manifestation of pity in this twentieth-century work of art. Carlo Scarpa has put together a highly sophisticated collection of structures, occupying the mausoleum’s L-shaped space stretching across both sides of the old San Vito d’Altivole cemetery. A myriad of different forms and an equally large number of different pieces, all of which are separate and yet inextricably linked to form a chain that seems to offer no promise of continuity, rising up out of these are those whose only justification for being there is to bear the warning “si vis vitam, para mortem”, [if you wish to experience life prepare for death] as if to tell a tale that suggests the circle of time, joining together the commemoration of the dead with a celebration of life. At the entrance of the Brion Mausoleum stand the “propylaea” followed by a cloister which ends by a small chapel, with an arcosolium bearing the family sarcophagi, the main pavilion, held in place on broken cast iron supports, stands over a mirror-shaped stretch of water and occupies one end of the family’s burial space. The musical sound of the walkways teamed with the luminosity of these harmoniously blended spaces shows how, in keeping with his strong sense of vision, Carlo Scarpa could make the most of all of his many skills to come up with this truly magnificent space. As well as a great commitment to architectural work, with the many projects which we have already seen punctuating his career, Carlo Scarpa also made many equally important forays into the world of applied arts. Between 1926 and 1931, he worked for the Murano glassmakers Cappellin, later taking what he had learned with him when he went to work for the glassmakers Venini from 1933 until the 1950s. The story of how he came to work on furniture design is different, however, and began with the furniture he designed to replace lost furnishings during his renovation of Cà Foscari. The later mass-produced furniture started differently, given that many pieces were originally one-off designs “made to measure”. Industrial manufacturing using these designs as prototypes came into being thanks to the continuity afforded him by Dino Gavina, who, as well as this, also invited Carlo Scarpa to become president of the company Gavina SpA, later to become SIMON, a company Gavina founded 8 years on, in partnership with Maria Simoncini (whose own name accounts for the choice of company name). Carlo Scarpa and Gavina forged a strong bond in 1968 as they began to put various models of his into production for Simon, such as the “Doge” table, which also formed the basis for the “Sarpi” and “Florian” tables. In the early seventies, other tables that followed included “Valmarana”, “Quatour” and “Orseolo”. While in 1974, they added couch and armchair “Cornaro” to the collection and the “Toledo” bed...

Venini sconces.

Made in Italy, 1940s. This tiny bonbonniere is made in sommerso Murano glass, with gold flakes and few bubbles due to the process of glass blowing. It is a vintage piece, but it can ...

A set of 2 "Chiara" table lamp designed by Cini Boeri. manufactured by Venini Murano, Italy, 1984 . Theese pieces of design are constructed of white glass over a subtle rose layer interior...

VENINI sconces.

Vintage Italian pendant with frosted Murano glass globe with hand blown white Murano glass stripes, mounted on chrome hardware / Designed by Venini circa 1960s / Made in Italy 1 ligh...

Beautiful antique Murano hand blown Sommerso clear white bubbles and gold flecks Italian art glass mini vase / vide poche. Documented to the Venini company, and created by master des...

Sculptural Italian chandelier from the famous house Venini dating from the 40/50s. Structures in white lacquered metal (original paint) and rectangular diffusers in transparent Muran...

Venini frame.

In 1921 Venini and Cappellin opened a glass factory called Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Cappellin Venini & C. on the islands of Murano, the historic glass production centre in the lagoon of Venice, Italy. With Luigi Ceresa and Emilio Hochs as investors, they arranged to purchase the recently closed Murano glass factory of Andrea Rioda, hire the former firm's glassblowers, and retain Rioda himself to serve as technical director of the venture. Venini embarked on collaborations with architects and designers such as Cini Boeri, Tomaso Buzzi, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, Ettore Sottsass, Tapio Wirkkala, Gae Aulenti, and Massimo Vignelli. The ethos was to "take the Murano tradition of glass blowing and combine it with the French fashion industry's tradition of using designers". Here you can see a small lattimo vase "a mezza filigrana" realized by Venini on Carlo Scarpa...

Venini Sconces

"Incamiciato" Italian Art glass vase by Tomaso Buzzi for Venini. Clear, white and green. With original label. Signed: Venini Italia '89.

Venini Koori aquamarine and concrete vase by babled, unwrapped in box. Concrete band melted with aquamarine glass. Original Venini sticker label and papers. In original foam fitte...

Sconces Venini.

Venini chandelier.

Laura Diaz de Santillana (b. 1955) for Venini rare Sommersi Oro vase from "Laura" series, Italy, 1993. This elegant hand-blown Murano glass vase is an exquisite blue color with gold ...

A murano glass and brass table mirror designed and produced by Venini, Italy, 1940s.

Venini Chandelier.

A hand blown orange colored glass Fungo table lamp designed by Massimo Vignelli at the start of his impressive career in design and executed by Murano glass specialist Venini. This is the largest size of the Fungo table lamp. The Fungo lamp...

Created from the collaboration between Fulvio Bianconi and Paolo Venini, characterized by a soft shape with a graceful wavy lip, always unique, obtained using the free-hand technique...

Venini chandes.

Colletti series vase in greenish blown glass with two-tone incalmo band decoration designer Alessandro Diaz de Santillana. Venini engraved signature. After graduating in architecture...

Vaso a Bollicine Carlo Scarpa Venini & C. 1932 Measures: height cm 34, diameter cm 25 XVIII Biennale di Venezia del 1932 Bibliography: Murano Mi...

Murano glass wall or ceiling lamp designed by Toni Zuccheri, made of hand-blown Murano glass with amber tones. Produced by Venini in the 1960s  

Venini chandelier.

Monofiore Balloton extra large vase in Amber Murano glass by Venini. It looks soft, but it’s not; it’s glass. The optical illusion of Monofiori by Venini from 1970 lies in its name: ...

Clessidra hourglass in grape and pink Murano glass by Paolo Venini and Riedizione. Limited edition in 99 art pieces each. Little grains of sand, impalpable and unnoticeable as a whol...

Satin large vase in glazed horizon/crystal Murano glass by Venini. Sheer glass is hand blown and crafted by the master glassblowers using the sophisticated Satinatura technique, whic...

VENINI Ceilling Light

We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning rare pair of 'Fungo' Murano glass table lamps inspired by Massimo Vignelli. A true statement pair of lamps, well and beautifully ...

Historic vase designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi in opalino glass characterized by round horizontal ribs. The model is proposed in three shades of colour and in three sizes. Rhythm"...

A classical form inspired by faraway places, magically projected in the contemporary world by the new colours. It draws inspiration from faraway places, halfway between fantasy an...

The incredible beautiful chandelier made of Murano glass Tronchi by Toni Zuccheri for Venini. Made in Italy in the 1960s. Designer Toni Zuccheri for Venini & Co. Venini & Co. played ...

Article: Murano glass bowl element Producer: Venini Glass, Murano Origin: Murano, Italy Decade: 1970s These original vintage glass element was designe...

Grande midcentury chandelier designed by Venini with Murano glass, Italy 1950s This grande chandelier consists of countless glass 'tubes' with textured designs of Murano glass and...

Venini chandelier with Triedri glass prisms of clear glass in beautiful S-shaped gradient.

An early large Venini Fazzoletto Vase. By Venini to the Fulvio Bianconi design, circa 1950. Signed clearly with the three line signature. Retains stickers from Christies. This is lot 130 from 1989 Robert Mapplethorpe Collection Christies Auction.

Skillful glasswork gives back this object a slight movement, as if it were suspended in space. Its iconic silhouette comes from an exclusive archival prototype and brings a playful t...

Vase in blown opal glass, red on the outside and white on the inside, produced by Venini in Murano, Venice (Italy). Signed under the base 'Venini 2006'.

Toni Zuccheri for Venini Murano Glass Sconses, Italy 1970s Excellent and square Venini white Murano glass applique by Toni Zuccheri made and designed in Italy 1970s. These wall sc...

Chandelier "Esprit" in Murano hand blown glass and chrome metal. Designed by Toni Zuccheri and produced by Venini in the 1970s. Bibliography: - Domus 436 (marzo 1966), advertising...

Elegant and timeless, Murano glass ceiling lamps are varied and diverse but each carries with it the aura of the wisdom of the lagoon's master glassmakers. This ceiling light from th...

Beautiful Venini vase in this canes twisted work, zanfirico technic that makes lattice patterns . This vase has a neck shape and is signed in bottom diamond point "Venini Italia" .

Large Venini Art Glass vase with Inciso Decoration Paolo Venini, Murano 1956 A large vintage art glass vase in notte (night) blue pesante glass ...

Skillful glasswork gives back this object a slight movement, as if it were suspended in space. Its iconic silhouette comes from an exclusive archival prototype and brings a playful t...

Skillful glasswork gives back this object a slight movement, as if it were suspended in space. Its iconic silhouette comes from an exclusive archival prototype and brings a playful t...

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 ...

Petite Venini ceiling lights attributed to Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1960s. Wonderful light effect. The heavily textured and slightly iridescent glass dome is held in place by a bra...

Chandelier VENINI.

Rare Gio Ponti bottle for Venini designed in the 1950s from the Morandiana series. This example is a 1960s edition, acid-etched venini murano italia signature under the base, origina...

Monumental Paolo Venini vase model 3556 for Venini in light grey Opalino glass. The second smaller vase measures Diameter 13 x H 38 cm. Both vases carry the Venini label and are Acid etched Venini Murano Italia...

Venini chandelier.

A pendant light made in 'zanfirico' Murano glass by Venini, circa 1960. Suspended by a brass chain with circular links and domed ceiling rose. In excellent condition. Can be wi...

Apparently casual silhouettes with irregular protrusions meet sleek surfaces to admire with the eye and caress with the hand. They stem from special techniques – "Mano Volante" and "...

Mushroom glass Pair of Luxury Italian Table Lamps by Vittorio Balli & Romeo Ballardini for Sirrah, 1970s, Italy Lampshade is in very good vintage condi...

Dans son verre Vert de murrine et Cristal, Laura de Santillana a imprimé toute sa légèreté et les parfums des premières herbes, des nouvelles fleurs des champs...

Laura Diaz de Santillana (b. 1955) for Venini rare Sommersi Oro vase from "Laura" series, Italy, 1980. This elegant hand-blown Murano glass vase is an exquisite celadon green color w...

Venini Toni Zuccheri ceilling light sconces Murano glass brass metal 1950 Italy.