Original work

Tipetto in Murano Glass with Zanfirico and Reticello Filigree, Movable Rings, and Golden Seahorses

1.200 €

This exquisite tipetto or ceremonial goblet of Murano artistic glassware, standing thirty-two centimeters high, constitutes a masterpiece of unsurpassed technical virtuosity executed in Italy on the island of Murano (Venice) during the second half of the 20th century by a master glassmaker (maestro vetraio) from a prestigious Murano workshop through hand-blown glass (vetro soffiato) and hot-sculpted shaping (a mano volante) in a vibrant chromatic interplay of ruby purple tones, white filigree, and dense twenty-four-karat gold leaf (foglia d'oro). The piece is distinguished by its imposing upper bowl in the form of a scalloped corolla with a wavy, flared rim, crafted using a master technique of alternating filigree (zanfirico and reticello) that entwines milk glass canes (lattimo) with fine twisted ruby-colored filaments. From the sides of the bowl hang two delicate movable rings of purple twisted glass secured by sculpted golden leaf appliqués with gold inclusions, while its stem is configured as a dazzling architectural sculpture where a fine spiral of white filigree bifurcates into an elegant openwork design, flanked by two freestanding figures of blown seahorses steeped in a dazzling coating of gold leaf. The work rests upon a domed circular base that perfectly mirrors the symmetrical alternation of milk-white and purple patterns of the bowl, linking directly to the grand sumptuary tradition of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and emulating the fabulous ceremonial goblets of patrician tables and the Doge himself, whose strict court etiquette required the display of extremely complex glassware as the ultimate symbol of power, wealth, and refinement. Specimens of similar typological rigor and compositional virtuosity are held in the world's most prestigious museum 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 pristine state of conservation, combined with the mastery of its sculptural stem featuring golden seahorses and the exquisite execution of its combined filigree, places this goblet at the pinnacle of international Murano glass collecting.

TechniqueGlass soplado a boca, con zanfirico y reticello, lattimo y filamentos purpúreos y oro de 24 K

Dimensions32cm

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.

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