Wright Auction

By Sara Blumberg

In the mid-1920s, Anna Bonstadt arrived in America to serve as a traveling companion to a New York City socialite named Agnes Miles Carpenter. Bonstadt, of Finnish descent, had been widowed at a young age after only two years of marriage. She joined Miss Carpenter at 950 Fifth Avenue, and while her naturalization papers list her occupation as “maid,” Anna and Miss Carpenter traveled the world together, keeping impeccable records of their adventures.  

Among the highlights of the sale are three unusual and exciting animal figures collected by Bonstadt and Miss Capenter on their travels. The rarest is a camel designed in 1929–1930 by Ercole Barovier using the Primavera technique. While several Primavera animal figures have appeared in previous Important Italian Glass sales, this is the first camel ever presented—and one of only three known to exist. A nearly identical example is part of the world-renowned collection of Chiara and Francesco Carraro in Venice.  

Equally exceptional are the blue and white elephants designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi for Venini, circa 1930. The blue Pulegoso glass is particularly noteworthy, as no other example in this color has appeared on the market before. The downward trunk of the elephant is another unique variation; the most famous example of this form resides at the Vittoriale Foundation in Lake Garda. These remarkable creatures—one African and one Asian—perfectly capture the collector’s adventurous spirit.  

Anna Bonstadt’s descendants have entrusted not only these extraordinary pieces but also numerous albums filled with photographs, ticket stubs, exhibition flyers, newspaper clippings, letters, and postcards documenting years of daring travel around the world. Among these treasures, the most thrilling discovery was an image of Anna riding a camel, though the photos of Venice and Murano, circa 1930—depicting scenes largely unchanged to this day—made the find even more compelling.