Murano Green Glass Vase by Scarpa, ca. 1930
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GUEST:
I think it's a Murano glass vase. I received that from my grandfather's estate when my grandmother and grandfather passed away. My grandfather was unfortunately born into a place where he was in World War I and World War II, and he traveled extensively in the Pacific and then in Europe, too. So I think he probably picked this up in Europe, maybe when he actually went back with his wife. So I'm not real sure which trip this came from.
APPRAISER:
Okay, what leads you to believe it's Murano? There's a tag underneath here that says "Murano," so... So basically, we have a nice, early paper label, "Murano Venini," right?
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
So Paolo Venini started the Venini Glassworks around 1921. The island of Murano, it's a very well-established glass-making area, internationally known, of course. I think this is a design by Carlos Scarpa, an Italian, born 1906. He was trained as an architect, came to work with Venini in the early '30s, and then went on until 1947 to design some of their best glass pieces ever made in Italy, in my opinion.
GUEST:
Oh, nice.
APPRAISER:
This type of work is referred to as Sommerso a Bollicine, I believe is the correct pronunciation, and that refers to the sort of frothy, bubbly and the mixing of all surfaces with the gold highlights here. It's just a beautiful, classic vase. This very well might be from the '30s, which is an early period for Scarpa. Scarpa was referred to as the Frank Lloyd Wright of Italy at times. It's a wonderful piece, and actually, the marketplace really appreciates his designs. I think a good auction estimate would be $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
Oh, nice! That's sweet!
APPRAISER:
And this really is a very nice piece of 20th-century glass.
GUEST:
Thank you, that's great. We love it, we really appreciate it.
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