Wright Auction

This rare and possibly unique vase is one of the most interesting examples of Tomaso Buzzi’s work we have ever encountered. Tomaso Buzzi was an architect from Milan who arrived at Venini in 1932. While his tenure at Venini was very brief, his designs for the company were revolutionary in both technique and composition. His designs can really be divided into two categories; reduced elemental vases and bowls and sculptural vessels, many of which reference Etruscan forms. We are fortunate to have pieces of both types in this sale—a monumental Laguna vase and this exceptionally rare sculptural vase in the same glass. We should mention the glass itself—a technique called Incamiciato which refers to layers of glass fused together, in this case with the addition of gold leaf. The vase is a tour de force of design—one that required the skills of a master blower to control such an abstract and complicated form, drawing out the perfect foot from the body of the vessel itself. In hand this sculpted vase feels almost alive, something very difficult to convey in a photograph. This vase is published in several books and catalogues and was included in an exhibition devoted to the work of Tomaso Buzzi for Venini which took place in 2014 at Le Stanze del Vetro.