Very Rare “Merletto” Bowl by Seguso

The term “Murano glass” is used to address glass artifacts produced on the small island of Murano, just a mile away from Venice, Italy. This specific glass, whidely regarded as the finest in the world thanks to the almost millenary tradition laying behind it, actually divides into a wide range of different styles and working techniques; on the island, there is quite a number of artisans, each specialising in no more than one or two techniques.

Amongst these different ways of blowing, shaping or molding glass, some stand out as painstaikingly difficult, as much as they account for only a minimal fraction of the overall pieces: there might be just a handful, when not even one, workers capable of attaining certain results. Such is the case with the so-called “Merletto”, italian for lace, as its delicate white filigree reminds the lace produced by women of the island: the vases, bowls and trays made in such style were almost exclusively realised by Archimede Seguso during the fifties.

The present bowl is therefore the work of Seguso, and measures about 15 by 15 cm (6 by 6 inches). Pieces of this size were often used as ashtrays, but luckily it wasn’t the case with this one, which is indeed preserved in pristine coditions. There are absolutely no signs of damage, and very little traces of age. The green aquamarine hue is bright and vivid, and the white “merletto” filigree is stunning.