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More than 200 lots await you in our upcoming auction 'Murano Glass'!
In 1911, the Fratelli Toso manufactory, which was otherwise known for serial decorative works in the traditional style, engaged the renowned artist Hans Stoltenberg-Lerche. Outstanding works were to be created for the 10th Venice Biennale and so the sculptor was invited to the Serenissima. With the help of the master glassblowers at the Fratelli Toso manufactory, he translated his artistic ideas into the unfamiliar material, and thus created unique, never-before-seen vessels with atmospheric, impressionistically abstracted views. This vase, which is estimated at € 6,000 - 7,000 and comes from an important German private collection, offers great scope for interpretation. The vase is roughly divided horizontally into three color fields, where the violet in the lower area could represent the dark waters of Venice and the bright yellow and green in the middle the illuminated buildings above. Fratelli Toso thus started the tradition of bringing foreign artists to the city ten years earlier than the Venini manufactory, which had a reputation for this.
Venice, as a trading center with global significance since the Middle Ages, has always taken advantage of the influx of knowledge and creativity that comes along. The outflow was rather curbed - for example, glassblowers were not allowed to leave Venice in the Middle Ages. When things started to look up again after the First World War, the Venini manufactory, founded by Milanese lawyer Paolo Venini, hired internationally renowned artists in quick succession. Vittorio Zecchin, Napoleone Martinuzzi, Tomaso Buzzi and Carlo Scarpa - even Swedish-born artist Tyra Lundgren. Two important vases created by Carlo Scarpa for Venini are on offer in the auction. Valued at € 10,000 - 14,000, the 'Battuto' vase was designed by Scarpa around 1940. It is in a dark amber color with a finely textured, hammered surface.

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