Twisted Murano Bubble Glass Table Lamp
Materials: Hand blown twisted crystal Murano bubble glass (pulegoso) base. Some brass parts. Conical fabric lampshade with 2 gold coloured plastic rings. Bakelite E27 socket.
Total Height: 41 cm / 16.14”
Height: 28 cm / 11.02”
Width: ∅ 25 cm / 9.84”
Base: ∅ 9,5 cm / 3.74”
Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 75 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used. Not a specific one preferred.
Period: 1950s, 1960s.
Designer: Ercole Barovier (1889-1972) – attributed.
Manufacturer: Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C.. since 1939 named Barovier & Toso. – attributed.
Other versions: This twisted Murano bubble glass table lamp exists in all probability in several colours and sizes. The lampshade of this swirl table lamp is not original.
Barovier & Toso
Barovier & Toso or Barovier&Toso has a long history dating back to Jacobello Barovier in 1295. It is one of the oldest family companies on the planet.
Angelo Barovier, some 200 years later in 1450, designed the famous “Barovier wedding cup”. Which is now conserved in the Murano museum on the island. It is perhaps the most precious object of the Renaissance glass master-pieces.
In 1878 the first Barovier company was born: Fratelli Barovier (Brothers Barovier). Later it changed into Artisti Barovier (Barovier Artists).
After the First World War in 1920, the furnace was renovated and renamed into Vetreria Artistica Barovier & Co. 1920 was the year in which Ercole Barovier began his career as entrepreneur and designer.
Ercole Barovier created new colours, developed new chemical formulas, and found more efficient ways to manufacture glass. His most outstanding skills however lay in conjuring up innovative effects.
Ercole stopped working just a few years before his death in 1972. His portfolio consisted of no fewer than 25,000 designs.
The label on this table lamp is attributed to Barovier. You can find it over here on the Glass Message Board of the Glassmessages.com forum website, one of the best.
Pulegoso
Pulegoso: Italian word taken from the dialect word pulega, which means bubble. The glass is containing numerous bubbles of all sizes, produced by adding bicarbonate/soda, gasoline, or other substances to the glass. The bubbles make the glass semi-opaque and give the surface an irregular texture. The technique was developed in the 1920s by Napoleone Martinuzzi (1892-1977) on the island of Murano, Italy and used for the first time by the famous Venini company.
Links (external links open in a new window)
The Economist: World’s oldest family companies
Glass Message Board – Glass Identification of 20th Century Glass
Murano glass blowing – Wikipedia
The Glass Museum on the Murano Island