Original work

Murano Ruby Crystal Tipetto with Gold Spiral-Ribbed Baluster Stem

700 €

This elegant tipetto or gala chalice of Murano art glassware, standing twenty-six centimeters high, embodies the sobriety and formal harmony of the Venetian tradition through mouth-blown crystal (vetro soffiato) in an intense ruby-red hue combined with golden details. Its bowl, featuring a flared tulip-shaped profile with a subtly outcurved rim, is encircled at its lower waist by a fine hot-applied crimped collar (morisa increspata) densely infused with 24-karat gold leaf (foglia d'oro). The stem, entirely hot-modeled at the furnace (a mano volante), is centered upon a sleek baluster column executed in a spiral-ribbed technique (rigadin ritorto) rich in gold inclusions, flanked at the top by a ribbed knop edged with a crimped ruby red ring and at the bottom by a warm-toned ruffled collar, the entire assembly resting on a broad circular foot in ruby glass. Dating from the second half of the 20th century and lacking a workshop signature, the work evokes Renaissance and Baroque prototypes created for the banquets of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and the ducal court, where display glassware served as an expression of prestige and social distinction. Exemplars of this classical cut and balanced architectural proportion are preserved in prominent public collections and institutions such as the Museo del Vetro in Murano, the Museo Correr in Venice, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Its excellent state of preservation, the radiance of its ruby tone, and the refined spiral gold leaf craftsmanship position this piece favorably within the high-end glass collecting market.

TechniqueGlass soplado a boca, oro de 24K, colleretas onduladas en caliente, vástago abalustrado acanalado en espiral y modelado a mano

Dimensions26cm

YearCirca 1970

ArtistMURANO, Maestri Vetrai di

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MURANO, Maestri Vetrai di

The history of the master glassmakers of Murano (Maestri Vetrai di Murano) traces its roots back to the 8th century in the Venetian Lagoon, although their institutional status and artistic monopoly were permanently established in 1291 when the Great Council of the Most Serene Republic enacted the historic decree requiring the relocation of all melting furnaces to the island of Murano to prevent fires in the city center and, above all, to safeguard the formulation, melting, and shaping techniques of glass under strict state secrecy. From that moment, the maestri vetrai enjoyed exceptional social privileges, such as the prerogative to marry into patrician nobility and the right to carry a sword, while remaining subject to an absolute ban on leaving the Republic without official authorization, under severe penalties meant to preserve the Venetian commercial advantage over the rest of Europe. During the Renaissance, the island's technical genius reached its zenith with the invention of cristallo around 1450 by master Angelo Barovier, a revolutionary formula of absolute clarity that eliminated iron impurities to match the purity of natural rock crystal. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the workshops developed an unparalleled technical repertoire that included filigree (reticello and zanfirico) using glass rods with opaque threads twisted into complex geometric patterns, calcedonio and lattimo compositions to simulate jasper, agate, or the opalescence of Oriental porcelain, and virtuoso hot-working (a mano volante) using pincers (borselle) and relief molds (a mezza stampatura) to sculpt ornate stems adorned with acanthus volutes, mascarons, and mythological creatures for the famed tipetti. Within the courtly etiquette of the Republic and European royalty, Murano glassware represented the pinnacle of sumptuary luxury, exemplified by the Doge of Venice's custom of using a different goblet at every banquet as a symbol of boundless wealth, which sparked fierce competition among the various fornaci to supply the aristocracy and the Habsburg, Valois, and Medici dynasties. Following the dissolution of traditional guilds in the late 18th century, the craft experienced a dramatic revival in the mid-19th century through figures such as Vincenzo Zanetti and Antonio Salviati, paving the way for a 20th century in which historical and high-end firms like Venini, Barovier & Toso, Archimede Seguso, and Elite Murano fused avant-garde design language with the rigorous execution of ancient artisans. In the international high-end auction circuit, featuring premier houses such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Pandolfini, Wright, and Phillips, the works of Venetian masters achieve extraordinary valuations due to the inimitability of their manual techniques, the extreme scarcity of unique or limited-run pieces, and the significant market premium awarded to examples preserved in immaculate condition. Today, the most important collections representing this sculptural and decorative lineage are preserved in the world's most prestigious museum institutions, including the Museo del Vetro in Murano, the Museo Correr in Venice, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan.