Ashtrays in Blown and Incamiciato Glass, 1960

Murano glass empty pockets (or ashtray) with an elongated and slender shape; the design is essential but well-proportioned and elegant; pleasingly aesthetic is the shaded effect of the colors that the artisans have managed to achieve with skill and mastery. This object was made by Maestri Muranesi with the technique of “incamiciatura,” which consists of superimposing, as a first process, on the glass mass coming out of the furnace, one or more successive layers of glass of different colors; in our object, to the white opaline glass mass two colors were superimposed a dark brown and a light brown by immersing the white form just sketched in two crucibles containing the molten glass of the two colors; then the Master glassmaker put the whole thing back in the furnace for a few minutes and then blowing into the special barrel, helping himself with pliers and working it by hand gave vuotatasche the desired shape; this operation was done flat, therefore much more difficult to make the different colors mix so the object was made entirely by hand and without the use of molds or models, thus creating a unique piece, just like a work of art. The earliest records of this technique concern Benedetto Barbaria, who in 1815 made “blown glass with two layers of enamel.” The empty pockets were created between 1960 and 1964 with experience and unparalleled skill by a great Murano master in a magical, fascinating and artistic place: a handcrafted furnace in Murano. However, whoever the maker, the making of this vase confirms that the Venetian aptitude, celebrated over the centuries, for glassmaking is an alchemical combination of the material worked out by artisan intelligence with happy artistic intuitions; since ancient times Venetian artisans have been protecting and handing down the Art of Glass, always giving us valuable and unique works of art that fascinate us with their beauty. Measures length cm.28, depth cm.20, and height cm.5. The item is in good condition, on the bottom it has protection to prevent it from scratching the supporting surfaces.