Italian White, Amber and Blue Submerged Murano Glass Bowl by Flavio Poli, 1970s

Incredible midcentury Murano art glass white with two pockets in blue and dark amber. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy during the 1970s and it is attributed to Flavio Poli. The lines are absolutely breath-taking, round and sinuous with two coloured pockets fitting perfectly. This stunning bowl is in “Sommerso” glass will enrich and give elegance to any midcentury or space-age project. This piece is 2.4 kg. weight. The Sommerso technique was originally developed in the 1930s by Antonio Da Ross. Sommerso (Italian for “submerged”) is the Murano glassmaking technique of creating two or more layers of contrasting glass without the colors mixing together. It is formed by dipping colored glass into molten glass of a different color, before blowing the glass into the required form. The outermost layer is often clear. During the 1950s the Sommerso style became world famous due to the work of Flavio Poli, artistic director of Seguso Vetri d’Arte. There have since been many other factories in the Murano region which have made pieces in this style, and as such it is difficult to be certain of the manufacturer without labels or signatures present. Other well known manufacturers that have produced glassware in the Sommerso style include Mandruzzato, Galliano Ferro, Formia, Oball, Arte Nuova and Luigi Onesto. Flavio Poli (1900-1984) was an Italian artist, known for his designs in glass. Born in 1900, he was trained at the Istituto d’Arte di Venezia, then began work as a ceramicist. In 1929, he began working for the company “I.V.A.M.” (Industrie Vetraie Artistiche Murano) as a designer of glassware. He was appointed artistic director of Barovier, Seguso & Ferro (later Seguso Vetri d’Arte) in 1934, where he devised a style of ‘submerged’ glass, with several transparent layers, one over the other. Within three years, he was a partner in the company. He left Seguso in 1963. From 1964 to 1966 he led the artistic glass division of the Società Veneziana di Conterie e Cristallerie. Poli died in 1984. A number of his works are in the Murano Glass Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, and MoMA in New York.