Flavio Poli Sommerso Murano Glass vase for Seguso Mid Century Modern Italy

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.

Archimede Seguso redefined a 650-year family history of Murano glass-making with brilliance and novel techniques, elevating him to an exemplar for the maestros of his time as well as for future generations of glassmakers. This next generation included his sons and grandsons, who carried on and further expanded the family legacy of Venetian art glass. The survival and revival of traditional glassblowing combined with unique design are the legacies left behind by a master.

Seguso grew up in the family furnaces of the Soffieria Barovier Seguso and Ferro, where his training began at age 11. By the time he turned 20, he was a maestro in his own right, joining the family business as a partner.

In 1933 the company changed its name to Seguso Vetri D’Arte, and Seguso gained sole control. He collaborated with designers Flavio Poli and Vittorio Zecchin, which allowed him to achieve artistic sovereignty leading to the opening in 1946 of his own furnace, Vetreria Seguso Archimede. There, he could explore his design ideas with creative freedom. In 2007, the 23rd generation of Seguso glassmakers took the lead at Seguso Vetri D’Arte. Brothers Gianluca, Pierpaolo and Gianandrea Seguso carry a six-century dynasty of Seguso glass into the 21st century.

Archimede Seguso’s art glass pays homage to tradition. Seguso studied and mastered techniques from centuries past, but he also pioneered innovative approaches, such as submersion and unconventional color constitutions. He awarded future generations with stunning and unprecedented effects, such as ribbed textures, rings, needle shapes and the appearance of embedded objects.

A lifetime of achievement created by Seguso is honored in museums worldwide, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, MoMA in New York and Museum Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf, to name a few. His exhibit resume spans decades, beginning with XX Biennale, Venezia, in 1936. It includes a 1989 exhibit of “Il Maestro dei Maestri” at Tiffany & Co., New York, and 2013 exhibitions at Musée Maillol in Paris and Museo della Basilica di San Marco in Venice.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Archimede Seguso glass, decorative objects, lighting and mirrors alongside a collection from his brother Angelo Seguso and his grandsons’ firm Seguso Viro.