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Rare Alfredo Barbini VAMSA Toucan Bird Sfumato Sommerso Murano Glass Sculpture

$1,900
£1,433.11
€1,652.95
CA$2,681.90
A$2,984.74
CHF 1,553.93
MX$36,043.89
NOK 19,487.66
SEK 18,407.32
DKK 12,343.12

About the Item

Rare and exquisite art glass toucan bird sculpture by murano glass artist Alfredo Barbini for VAMSA (V.A.M.S.A.) circa 1938. Hand blown on the venetian island of Murano and executed in the rare sommerso sfumato technique using thousands of tiny controlled air bubbles meticulously suspended between a layer of dark green and clear glass. Alfredo Barbini created very few pieces using the sfumato technique for VAMSA and this is a particularly example is a very rare form. Alfredo Barbini began his legendary career in 1925 at the age of 13, working in the S.A.I.A.R. Ferro Toso factory. In 1929 he joined Anonima Vetrerie e Cristallerie Murano, where he worked side by side with sculptor, Napoleone Martinuzzi, at the Zecchin-Martinuzzi furnace as a master glassblower. Alfredo Barbini soon exhibited an innate propensity for modeled figures - believing that in the execution of the objects, he felt his hand to be led by an inner force. Barbini then became a master craftsman at V.A.M.S.A. (Vetreria Artistica Muranese Società Anonima). It was here that his glass sculpturing progressed to the point of working with rare fumato glass, where he used thick materials and particular chromatic effects to attain remarkable artistic results.

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