An important 'Pulegoso' vase, model no. 3273, Circa 1928

Born in Murano in 1892, Napoleone Martinuzzi was appointed artistic director at Venini in 1925. A successful sculptor, Martinuzzi challenged the traditional elements distinctive of Venini’s production, and indeed of Murano glass at the time: transparency, lightness and purity of forms. His predecessor at the helm of Venini, Vittorio Zecchin, championed a production style evocative of the glass found in masterpieces by Tiziano, Tintoretto or Veronese. Martinuzzi’s artistic vision was grounded in his sculptural approach to glassmaking which led to the creation of vast array of innovative pieces emblematic of the Novecento style. Martinuzzi experimented with the vast possibilities of glass, skilfully translating volume, mass and body into form, inspired both by the realm of nature and the forms of ancient Roman glass. These are the foundations of what is arguably the most important contribution by Napoleone Martinuzzi to Murano, the creation of pulegoso glass. Exhibited for the first time at the XVI Venice Biennale in 1928, the series of vessels were distinguished by a new material: opaque glass, the surface covered in burst-air inclusions, often slightly iridescent. The design of each piece was inspired by ancient forms, with complex applied decorations such as a series of handles as shown by the present example. A vase of this form was indeed presented at the exhibition in Venice and it is now in the collection of Gabriele D’Annunzio at Vittoriale d’Italia, Lake Garda.

Of great scale and presence, the present lot is a testament to Martinuzzi’s ability to elevate a glass vessel to supremes levels of expression. The only known example in this colour, this vessel was first exhibited in Turin in 1984 at the exhibition Mostra del Vetro Italiano 1920-1940, the label from the exhibition is still visible to the underside of the piece. It is then illustrated in the book Napoleone Martinuzzi, Maestro Vetraio del Novecento, edited by Marina Barovier in 2001, opposite the example already mentioned at Vittoriale. This latter piece is indeed one of the only five examples of this design known in green pulegoso. One example is retained in the Nancy Olnik and Giorgio Spanu Collection, New York, one is retained in the collection of Chiara and Francesco Carraro Foundation, Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, one example was sold at Christie’s New York as part of the Barry Friedman collection in 2014 and the last example was recently sold at auction in Chicago. This is a unique opportunity to acquire one of the most iconic designs of 20th Century Murano glass.