Two Alfredo Barbini Chartruese Avventurina Bowls, Murano, Italy

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Two Alfredo Barbini Chartruese Avventurina Bowls, Murano, Italy

About the Item

Two beautiful ruffled and spiraled Chartreuse colored glass pieces with small gold colored flecks trapped inside, evidence of the avventurina (Aventurine) technique, by Alfredo Barbini (Italian, 1912-2007). Pale olive bowl dimensions, 7"D x 7.75"W x 3.75"H. Pale gold bowl dimensions, 6.75"D x 8"W x 3.88"H. History of Aventurine Glass The Miotti family is credited with creating aventurine glass in the mid 17th century. They kept the process a carefully guarded secret for years. When the process was reveled it consisted of combining copper or copper salts with the glass. The mineral deposits clump together as the glass cools and create a shiny gold flecked appearance. These minerals create various colors in the glass, green blue and brown are the most common. Aventurine glass is also know as goldstone, stellaria or monkstone. Alfredo Barbini was born on the islands of Murano in the lagoon of Venice, Italy. He was one of Murano's leading figures of the twentieth century. His parents were members of families which had been prominent in the glassmaking industry on Murano for generations as glassblowers and beadmakers. Barbini began his long career in 1925 at the age of 13, working in the S.A.I.A.R. Ferro Toso factory. In 1929 he joined Cristalleria di Venezia e Murano as a master glassblower. He left that firm in 1932 for employment with a glass workshop in Milan, but returned to Murano to work first at the newly formed Zecchin & Martinuzzi firm and then with Seguso Vetri d'Arte. From 1936 to 1944 he was a partner and master glassblower at Societa Anonima Vetri Artistici Murano, known as S.A.V.A.M. Following World War II Barbini worked as master glassblower and designer successively with Archimede Seguso and Napoleone Martinuzzi, then became a partner with Vetreria Vistosi and, later, Gino Cenedese. With financial assistance from the firm of Salviati & Co., for whom he produced products, he formed in 1950 his own glass firm, Vetreria Alfredo Barbini (reorganized in 1983 as Alfredo Barbini Srl). His firm exhibited his work at the Venice Biennales from 1950 to 1961. He died in 2007. Among numerous other honors, Barbini was awarded the "Osella d'Oro" by Venice's Associazione degli Industriale and the honorary title "Commendatore" and was named "1989 Venetian of the Year" by the Settimare Association. Avventurina glass includes countless particles of gold within its mass which are minute copper cyrstals with copper as its basic coloring agent. Metal flecks are embedded in clear glass to reflect light. Copper, metallic silicon and other metal oxides are added to create a shimmery, metallic look. The copper (or other) metal microcrystal are dispersed to reflect a gold color, formed by deglassification (separation from the molten mass during the cooling step). In the twentieth century avventurina was used by only a small number of glassworks as it was very difficult to obtain.

Attributed to:
Alfredo Barbini (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 3.75 in (9.53 cm)Width: 7.75 in (19.69 cm)Depth: 7 in (17.78 cm)
Style:
Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Glass,Hand-Crafted
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1966
Condition:
Each Shell is Mouth blown and are not ever identical.
Seller Location:
Soquel, CA
Reference Number:
Seller: S51211stDibs: LU1215211283343