Wright Auction

This beautiful and rare A Fasce Applicate bowl is part of a small group of objects designed by Carlo Scarpa for the Milano Triennale of 1940. The name A Fasce Applicate refers to the ribbon like stripes employed as a decorative element that seem to be draped over the surface, when in fact these ribbons make up only one layer of this very complex glass. Pieces from this series are highly iridized as well and this adds to the feeling of depth and dimension. It is important to note the timing of this series—production at Venini was very limited during the war—but Scarpa continued to make new designs and pieces were made but in small numbers. In the A Fasce Applicate series in particular, each work seems to be a prototype, an experiment of sorts, though various design elements run throughout the series. One wonderful aspect of this series is the use of the shallow form—rather that viewing the technique in a standing vase, one can look into the piece and see the design as the focal point—much like one would view a drawing or painting on canvas. And this may be why each work from this series feels so powerful—a testament to Scrapa’s forward thinking about the possibilities of glass—and design in general. When we look at the example here, it seems like a work of post war abstraction, but of course this was made much earlier. Scarpa was simply said a visionary, taking in all of world art and history, and making something entirely new and ahead of its time. The A Fasce Applicate series perfectly expresses this and while similar pieces went into production after the war, the original designs, like the one we have before us, are both exceptionally beautiful and rare.