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Primavera Vase attributed to Ercole Barovier

$6,500
£4,991.38
€5,725.89
CA$9,133.26
A$10,228.68
CHF 5,337.16
MX$124,938.90
NOK 67,904.16
SEK 64,007.81
DKK 42,731.64

About the Item

A stunning and extremely rare triangular vase executed in the Primavera glass technique, a short-lived and still-unreplicated invention by Ercole Barovier for Barovier & Toso. This example, with its unusual profile and delicate internal craquelure, represents not only one of the great technical triumphs of early 20th-century glass, but also one of its most enigmatic legacies. Primavera glass was developed during an intensive period of experimentation by Barovier, involving a secret chemical reaction that produced the ethereal crackled inner webbing while preserving a perfectly smooth surface. The result was glass that appeared frozen mid-shatter—fragile, layered, and almost organic. The chemical compound essential to the process was discovered by accident, and once depleted, the technique was lost forever. Despite extensive attempts, no glassmaker since has been able to replicate it, making authentic examples like this all the more coveted and highly attributable. This particular vase features an unusual triangular body and two asymmetrically formed handles that appear not to be fully fused to the body—suggesting this may have been a trial piece, an unfinished prototype, or an experimental variation that somehow escaped destruction. Barovier was known to test structural boundaries, and pieces that didn’t conform to production standards were typically destroyed—making surviving anomalies extremely rare and of unique interest to collectors and historians. With Primavera’s known limitations and the impossibility of posthumous production, the technique itself acts as a signature, and examples can be confidently attributed based on the unique characteristics of the glass and form. This vase stands as a striking artifact of one of Murano’s greatest technical and artistic achievements, existing at the intersection of accident, invention, and irreversible loss. Works in the Primavera technique are included in the Murano Glass Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass, and other major public collections. This piece offers not just beauty, but a narrative of experimentation, failure, and mastery—a relic of alchemical modernism that is sculptural, mysterious, and historically irreplaceable.
  • Attributed to:
    Ercole Barovier (Maker)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.75 in (32.39 cm)Width: 6.75 in (17.15 cm)Depth: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1930s
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Kilmarnock, VA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU8830821094

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