“Fazzoletto” handkerchief shaped vase in twisted filigree zanfirico glass rods alternating different colour

One of the most iconic items of Venini production and 1950s Murano glass in general is undoubtedly this fazzoletto vase.

Produced in countless variations of shape and colour, this vase produced by Paolo Venini and Fulvio Bianconi working together aptly reflects the creative spirit that distinguished the production of the time poised in a balance of innovation and tradition.

At a presentation of Bianconi’s glassworks in Milan in 1958, in describing certain peculiarities of Bianconi’s artistic process, the famous creative personality Bruno Munari praised his fantasy and ability in devising new objects by exploiting every possible technique “adjusting thicknesses and curves for the greater penetration of light, its refraction and reflection, its rebounding away from curved surfaces, as if it were still inside the furnace.”

Bibliography

Marino Barovier (editor), Fulvio Bianconi alla Venini, Skira - Le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Milan - Venice 2015, exhibition catalogue (Venice, Le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, September 13, 2015 – January 10, 2016), page 99.