Important Italian Glass 
13 June 2015
Important Italian Glass 
278

Dino Martens

rare Zanfirico vase

Aureliano Toso
Italy, 1951
polichrome glass with patchwork canes 10½ h × 11 w × 4 d in (27 × 28 × 10 cm)
estimate: $10,000–15,000
result: $30,000
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provenance: Collection of Anni and Ed Forcum, Berkeley
exhibited: IX Triennale, 1951, Milan
literature: Venetian Art Glass: An American Collection 1840-1970, Barovier, pg. 277 illustrates this example 20th Century Murano Glass, Heiremans, pg. 93 illustrates this example Dino Martens: Muranese Glass Designer, Heiremans, pg. 62 illustrates this example

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Dino Martens 1894–1970

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Born in Venice in 1894, Dino Martens studied painting and design at the Accademia di Belle Art in Rome. A talented artist, his paintings were exhibited at the Venice Biennale between 1924 and 1930. In the mid-1920s, Martens was a partner and decorator for S.A.L.I.R. and later took a position as designer for Salviati & Co. In 1939, upon returning from the African War, Martens became artistic director for the famed glass firm, Aureliano Toso.

Martens' work for Aureliano Toso has become legendary for its inventiveness, experimentation and excess. His innovative use of oversized murrines, brightly colored metallic powders and fragments of glass rods, all expressed in wildly biomorphic forms, have become synonymous with Murano glass style of the 1950s.

Auction Results Dino Martens

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result: $221,000

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result: $100,000

Dino Martens

Sirventese bottle, model 6319

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unique Vanita vase

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