CARLO SCARPA (1906-1978)

A 'FASCE APPLICATE' DISH, CIRCA 1940

Details

CARLO SCARPA (1906-1978)
A 'FASCE APPLICATE' DISH, CIRCA 1940
produced by Venini, model 4476, hand-blown glass
2 in. (5 cm.) high, 11 3/8 in. (29 cm.) wide, 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) deep

Literature

M. Barovier, Carlo Scarpa: Venini 1932-1947, exhibition catalogue, Le Stanze del Vetro, Milan, 2012, pp. 162, 220 no. 235 for another plate of this model;
Exhibition catalogue, Venetian Glass: the Nancy Olnik and Giorgio Spanu Collection, New York, 2000, p. 100, n. 70 for this model illustrated;
A. Venini Diaz de Santillana, Venini, Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1986, Milan, 2000, p. 215, n. 139 for this model illustrated;
M. Barovier, Carlo Scarpa: Venini 1932-1947, exhibition catalogue, Le Stanze del Vetro, Milan, 2012, p. 449 for this model illustrated and a design drawing;
Venini, red catalogue, n. 4476.

Lot Essay

Scarpa consistently explored the potential of ambiguity between form and surface. This rare dish, from 1942, exhibits almost total liberation from stylistic or referential restraints, to instead summon a free-form outline loosely applied with apparently random colored trails. Enhanced by a lightly iridized surface to suggest age, the dish translates as a fragment of something once larger, now softened and smoothed by the passage of the waters of time.

More from Carlo Scarpa: Visions in Glass 1926-1962 A European Private Collection

View All