AN 'IRIDATO' VASE, CIRCA 1928

This form, a sphere mounted upon inverted conical foot, is amongst the earliest of Scarpa's glass designs for M.V.M. Cappellin and exhibits graphic modernist clarity. Initially produced in clear and translucent glass, this rare example, unusually executed in deep opaque azure pâte-de-verre, derives chromatic inspiration from lapis lazuli, the prized stone imported into Venice and ground to produce ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all pigments used by some of the most important painters of the Renaissance and the Baroque. This vase is an early and powerful example of the architect's ability to deliver subtlety of surface upon form, and reveals a passion for colour to be later investigated in numerous subsequent architectural projects, memorably including the ultramarine textured wall surfaces of the Banco Popolare, Verone, 1973.

A similar model in red can be found in the Nancy Olnik and Giorgio Spanu Collection, New York.