"Sommerso" Vase by Flavio Poli for Seguso, Italy, 1950s
View Similar Items
"Sommerso" Vase by Flavio Poli for Seguso, Italy, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Flavio Poli (Designer),Seguso Vetri d'Arte (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 13.75 in (34.93 cm)Diameter: 4.5 in (11.43 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s-1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: AA1stDibs: LU81382823102
Flavio Poli
Italian glass artist Flavio Poli’s innovative use of the sommerso technique during the 1950s added a dimension of exquisite beauty and refined elegance to mid-century-era Murano glass design. Today Poli’s vintage table lamps, glass vases, ashtrays and other objects are highly collectible.
Born in Chioggia in 1900, Poli attended the prestigious Istituto d’Arte di Venezia where he trained as a ceramist before turning his attention toward glass art. His career in glass began in 1929 when he worked at the Industrie Vetrerie Artistiche Murano, designing and creating large-scale glass sculptures, urns and bowls.
During the 1930s, Poli was a glass artist for manufacturer Barovier, Seguso and Ferro (later known as Seguso Vetri d’Arte), where he worked alongside pioneering glass master Archimede Seguso. Poli was later appointed artistic director at the Venetian glassworks.
Inspired by Seguso, Poli began to experiment with his own glassblowing techniques. In the 1950s, he helped popularize the decades-old sommerso style, which sees overlapping layers of transparent handblown glass melded through a heating process and immersed in pots of molten colored glass. The style yields a sophisticated and mesmerizing effect — it's as if colored fluids have been trapped inside the layers of clear glass. Poli made use of variations on the technique in many of his pieces, including in designs for vases, bowls, sculptures and more.
Poli’s unparalleled designs and innovative work with the sommerso technique garnered numerous awards and accolades throughout his career. He won five Grand Prix awards at the Milan Triennale and was awarded the Compasso d’Oro prize in 1954. Poli’s designs were also presented at the World’s Fair in Brussels and the Venice Biennale in 1958.
Today, Poli’s work can be found in museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Murano Glass Museum in Venice, Museo Boncompagni Ludovisi in Rome and the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia.
Find vintage Flavio Poli decorative objects, serveware and lighting on 1stDibs.
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.
- Gio Ponti Armchair for Cassina, Italy, 1950sBy Cassina, Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYGio Ponti armchair manufactured by Cassina in the 1950s. In original condition with ebonized frame, green leather covering and brass feet. Condition: Good vintage condition, minor...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- Carboni for Arflex "Dolphin" Lounge Chair, Italy, 1950sBy Erberto CarboniLocated in New York, NYThe Dolphin club chair is considered one of the best Italian armchair designs of the 50's. It was designed in 1954 by Ernesto Carboni for Arflex one of...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
$2,220 Sale Price40% Off - Studded Iridescent Murano Glass VaseBy Alberto DonàLocated in New York, NYMysterious looking iridescent vase made by Murano glass blower Alberto Dona. Signed at the bottom.Category
2010s Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Pair of Elongated Frosted Glass Sconces, Italy, 1950sLocated in New York, NYPair of elongated frosted glass wall lights with black and brass hardware details. Condition: Excellent vintage condition, minor wear consistent with age and use. Width: 6” Height...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Armchairs attributed to Paolo Buffa, Italy, 1950sBy Paolo BuffaLocated in New York, NYPair of armchairs attributed to Paolo Buffa, Italy, 1950s. $9,900.00. Pair of beautiful 1950s Paolo Buffa lounge chairs with “tusk” shaped legs. Upholstered in an off-white boucle ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Carlo Nason Pendant Lamp for Mazzega, Italy, 1960sBy Carlo Nason, AVMazzegaLocated in New York, NYRare Mazzega Pendant model LS 134 designed by Master Glass Blower Carlo Nason and made in a very limited quantity. Composed of four interlocking glasses hand blown in a mold. The mos...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Sommerso Vase by Flavio Poli for Seguso Vetri D'ArteBy Flavio Poli, Seguso Vetri d'ArteLocated in New York, NYHand blown Murano glass vase with yellow and clear glass.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Flavio Poli for Seguso Sommerso Vase Murano ca. 1953By Seguso Vetri d'Arte, Flavio PoliLocated in Berghuelen, DEFlavio Poli for Seguso Sommerso Vase Murano ca. 1953 A large sommerso art glass vase manufactured by Seguso Vetri D'Arte and designed by Flavio P...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsMurano Glass, Art Glass
- Flavio Poli for Seguso Sommerso Vase Murano ca. 1960sBy Seguso Vetri d'Arte, Flavio PoliLocated in Berghuelen, DEFlavio Poli for Seguso Sommerso Vase Murano ca. 1960s A large sommerso art glass vase manufactured by Seguso Vetri D'Arte and designed by Flavio ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsArt Glass, Murano Glass
- Flavio Poli for Seguso Sommerso Vase Murano, circa 1960By Flavio Poli, Seguso Vetri d'ArteLocated in Berghuelen, DEA large Venetian Sommerso glass vase manufactured by Seguso Vetri d'Arte and designed by Flavio Poli in the 1960s. Clear and grey Sommerso glass, polished rim. Rests of the 1960s Seg...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsArt Glass
- Flavio Poli Seguso Murano Pink Amber Sommerso Ribbed Art Glass Vase, 1950sBy Flavio Poli, Seguso Vetri d'ArteLocated in Barcelona, ESSculptural Murano Jug Shaped Vase in Shades of Pink and Amber glass. Designed by Flavio Poli and manufactured by Seguso Vetri d'Arte. Italy, 1950s. Large s...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsGlass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso
- 1950s Italian Flavio Poli Seguso Murano Sommerso Organic Glass VaseBy Flavio Poli, Seguso Vetri d'Arte, Murano Glass SommersoLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful and rare vase by Flavio Poli for Seguso, Murano, Sommerso organic glass vase. Vibrant colors no chips or cracks.Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsBlown Glass