Venini Ceiling Light, Original Mint Condition, circa 1940
View Similar Items
Venini Ceiling Light, Original Mint Condition, circa 1940
About the Item
Venini
Beginning in the 1930s — and throughout the postwar years especially — Venini & Co. played a leading role in the revival of Italy’s high-end glass industry, pairing innovative modernist designers with the skilled artisans in the centuries-old glass workshops on the Venetian island of Murano. While the company’s founder, Paolo Venini (1895–1959), was himself a highly talented glassware designer, his true genius was to invite forward-thinking Italian and international designers to Murano’s hallowed workshops to create Venini pieces — among them Giò Ponti, Massimo Vignelli, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, Thomas Stearnsof the United States and Fulvio Bianconi.
Paolo Venini trained and practiced as a lawyer for a time, though his family had been involved with glassmaking for generations. After initially buying a share in a Venetian glass firm, he took over the company as his own in 1925, and under his direction it produced mainly classical Baroque designs. In 1932, he hired the young Carlo Scarpa— who would later distinguish himself as an architect — as his lead designer. Scarpa, working in concert with practiced glass artisans, completely modernized Venini, introducing simple, pared-down forms; bright primary colors; and bold patterns such as stripes, banding and abstract compositions that utilized cross sections of murrine (glass rods).
Paolo Venini’s best designs are thought to be his two-color Clessidre hourglasses, produced from 1957 onward, and the Fazzoletto (“handkerchief”) vase, designed with Bianconi in 1949. Bianconi’s masterworks are considered by many to be his Pezzato works — colorful vases with patterns that resemble those of a patchwork quilt. Other noteworthy and highly collectible vintage Venini works include Ponti’s dual-tone stoppered bottles (circa 1948); rare glass sculptures from the Doge series by Stearns, the first American to design for the firm; Vignelli’s striped lanterns of the 1960s; the Occhi vases with eyelet-shaped patterns by Tobia Scarpa (son of Carlo); and, with their almost zen purity, the Bolle (“bubbles”) bottles designed by Wirkkala in 1968.
With these works — and many others by some of the creative titans of the 20th and 21st century — Venini has produced one of the truly great bodies of work in modern design.
- Cut Glass Ceiling Light, circa 1940Located in Vienna, ATRare Art Deco ceiling light from the 1930-1940s. Intricately detailed brass hardware and a rare acorn-shaped blown glass diffuser, which has a satin finish on the bottom with cut dec...Category
Vintage 1930s Austrian Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Vintage Murano Venini Quadriedri Ceiling Light, 1960By VeniniLocated in Roma, ITStunning ceiling lamps attributed to Venini formed of prism-shaped glass. Each pair mounts a light fitting. Height 23 centimeters, diameter 20 centimeters. Period: 1960Category
Vintage 1960s Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Ceiling Light by Paolo Caliari for VeniniBy Venini, Paolo CaliariLocated in Los Angeles, CACeiling light by Paolo Caliari for Venini. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa the 1960s. Striking Venini pendant with an exterior mauve colored murano glass shade, encompassin...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Ceiling Light by Paolo Caliari for VeniniBy Venini, Paolo CaliariLocated in Los Angeles, CACeiling light by Paolo Caliari for Venini. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa the 1960s. Striking Venini pendant with an exterior mauve colored murano glass shade, encompassin...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Venini Five Arm Chandelier, circa 1940By VeniniLocated in New York, NYA beautiful and rare example of a 1940s Italian glass chandelier by the famous glass house of Venini. Made of hand blown glass with brass. Arms of the chandelier etched with repetiti...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Very Large Ceiling Light Attributed to Venini, Italy, 1940sBy BarovierLocated in Brussels, BEVery large ceiling light attributed to Venini, Italy, 1940s.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGlass