Incollect Magazine Issue 7

Incollect Magazine 111 paperweights to modern ‘tessere’ designs such as a 1960s Barovier & Toso designed in caramel and black glass pendant light offered by Illustris. The blown crystal clear glass shade is worked ‘a tessere’, in a geometrical design of murrine in caramel rectangles outlined with black.” Pezzato/Tessere Pezzato is a version of the murrine style and is made by arranging a patchwork of rectangles in different colored pieces of glass that are then heated until they melt to create a linked design. Then another, usually pre-prepared blown form, made of colorless glass, is rolled over it, transferring the pattern to the glass form. This technique was used for centuries before the invention of the glass blowing pipe (around the 1st century BC by Syrian glass craftsmen and quickly adopted by the Romans) but was revived and refined in the modern era by Murano designers. “Pezzato” vases are among the most desirable items designed by the legendary Italian designer Fulvio Bianconi for the company Venini & Co, another of the most famous and important Venetian glass makers. Tessere means ‘tiles’ in Italian and this technique was widely utilized by designers at Barovier & Toso to create some strikingly contemporary pieces of glass design, such as an exquisite Tessere Ambra vase for Barovier & Toso, created circa 1974 by an unidentified designer, offered by Donzella. This is an immensely beautiful hand-blown vase with, as Paul Donzella explains, “very deep amethyst and amber colors formed to resemble woven material.” It is signed on the underside “Barovier & Toso Murano” as a guarantee of the maker and authenticity. Evan Lobel, the owner of Lobel Modern, has a pair of extraordinary items designed by Ercole Barovier for Barovier & Toso, both using the tessere method. His rare and important hand-blown glass “pezzato” table lamp with pink and white lattimo tessere from the 1950s is a signature example of hand craftsmanship using this technique, “It’s an exquisite table lamp,” he says, “just stunning.” Lobel says. He is right, for the craftsmanship is matched by the beauty of the design. The other piece he is offering is an Alterni vase in which alternating blocks of glass are randomly or loosely blown together. “The blue in the glass is sublime with a subtle texture,” Lobel says about the vase, which combines clear and light blue glass tessere, edged in darker blue, making it seem as if the blue pieces are floating freely in space. A 1960s Barovier & Toso “Tessere” pendant light in a patchwork design of light and dark amber glass tessere (tiles) edged in black. From Illustris on Incollect.