Pulegoso Vittoriale
Designer: Napoleone Martinuzzi , 1892-1977 (Italian, 1892 - 1977)
Manufacturer: V.S.M. (Vetri Soffiati Muranesi) Venini & C. (Italian)
Date: about 1955, (design about 1930)
Dimensions:
13 3/8 × 12 × 7 3/4 in. (34 × 30.5 × 19.7 cm)
Medium: Glass, gold leaf; blown, applied decoration.
Place of Origin: Venice, Italy
Classification: Glass
Credit Line: Gift of Jefferson D. Robinson in memory of his wife, Mary Elizabeth Robinson, by exchange
Object number: 2008.145
Label Text:Sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi (Italian, 1892–1977) was artistic director of the Venini glass company from 1925 to 1932 and was responsible for the great success of Modernist influence in the company’s production. He conducted enthusiastic research into materials, inventing new kinds of glass and finishes as well as unusual lighting effects with bubbles and gold leaf.
Venetian glass had historically been prized for its lightness and transparency (see Venetian Renaissance glass in Gallery 4). “Pulegoso” glass (from the Italian dialect word pulega, "bubble") was developed by Martinuzzi in the late 1920s. It is a glass containing numerous bubbles of all sizes, produced by adding bicarbonate of soda, gasoline, or other substances to the melt. The bubbles make the glass semi-opaque and give the surface an irregular texture. Martinuzzi’s ten-handled amphora, named “Vittoriale” for the villa of an Italian poet, remains one of the finest examples of this technique.
Venetian glass had historically been prized for its lightness and transparency (see Venetian Renaissance glass in Gallery 4). “Pulegoso” glass (from the Italian dialect word pulega, "bubble") was developed by Martinuzzi in the late 1920s. It is a glass containing numerous bubbles of all sizes, produced by adding bicarbonate of soda, gasoline, or other substances to the melt. The bubbles make the glass semi-opaque and give the surface an irregular texture. Martinuzzi’s ten-handled amphora, named “Vittoriale” for the villa of an Italian poet, remains one of the finest examples of this technique.
DescriptionVessel with ovoid body blown of bubbly green glass (pulegoso), short neck constricting near rim and thick applied rim decorated with gold leaf. On either side of the body are applied black ribbed handles, each consisting of a vertical row of five C-scrolls with applied gold foil.
On view
In Collection(s)