Exceptional large vase in vetro a fili et retortoli decorate - Lot 1

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  3. Exceptional large vase in vetro a fili et retortoli decorate - Lot 1
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Estimation :
300000 - 350000 EUR
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Result : 520 000EUR
Exceptional large vase in vetro a fili et retortoli decorate - Lot 1
Exceptional large vase in vetro a fili et retortoli decorated with two "cord knot" handles Venice, second half of the 16th century H. 41 cm Provenance : Private collection, France Addition to condition report. A slight firing defect on one of the baguettes a fili forming one of the handles. Comparative bibliography: Aldo Bova et al. L'Avventura del vetro, dal Rinascimento al Novecento tra Venezia e mondi lontani. Milan, 2010, p. 319 n°II.18 (for similar handles) Comparative sheet : Large basin with identical "cord knot" handles decorated with fili. Venice, second half of the 16th century 18 x 45 cm Murano, Museo del Vetro (inv. Cl. VI n. 02930) This monumental vase is an exceptional testimony to the virtuosity achieved by Venetian master glassmakers in the second half of the 16th century. Due to its remarkable dimensions, it stands out as a work that required perfect mastery of the technical constraints associated with working with large-scale blown glass. The decoration, executed using the latticino technique, testifies to a perfect control of gesture and material, conferring on the object an elegance and visual coherence of great sophistication. The morphology of the vase, a baluster resting on a flared pedestal, reveals particular attention to the balance of proportions. The wide-open neck responds harmoniously to the curved body and the width of the foot, creating a silhouette of great fluidity, characteristic of the most accomplished and elegant productions of Venetian Renaissance workshops. The handles are an element of rare singularity. With their thread-like decoration imitating cords intertwined in a flat knot, they are part of a decorative vocabulary rarely found in glass production of the period. Indeed, to our knowledge, only one bowl in the Museo del Vetro in Venice has comparable handles, also with white fili decoration (see illustration, inv. Cl. VI n. 02930). This proximity, while underlining the object's place in a specific technical tradition, accentuates the rarity of this type of mounting and reinforces the exceptional character of our vase. The combination of such a large scale, such high-quality latticino decoration and such unusual handles means that this vase can be considered a unicum, or at the very least, part of an extremely limited production, probably destined for a very wealthy clientele. As such, this vase is fully in keeping with the heyday of Venetian glassmaking in the 16th century, a period during which glass craftsmen vied with each other in their ingenuity to transcend technical limits and produce objects of exceptional refinement that rivaled goldsmith's or majolica.
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