935 - Animal Figurine “Spinone Italiano”

Animal Figurine “Spinone Italiano” Animal figure “Spinone Italiano” by Ercole Barovier (design), Artistica Soffieria e Vetreria Barovier Seguso Ferro, 1933. Pâte de verre in opaque red, black, and white, with some melted and cracked gold leaf. Naturalistic depiction of an Italian pointing dog (“Spinone Italiano”). Missing piece, glued back in place; chipped. H. 15.5 cm; L. 23 cm. The period of the Artistica Soffieria e Vetreria Barovier Seguso Ferro (1933–1939), which lasted only a few years, produced some of the most experimental works in the history of Murano glass. In addition to vessels made using the “incamiciato” and “coriandoli” techniques, extremely rare animal depictions were also created using pâte de verre. The “Spinone Italiano” is considered one of the outstanding examples of this experimental phase, in which Murano techniques were fused with French-inspired pâte-de-verre processes (Daum, Argy-Rosseau). Today, these sculptures are among the greatest rarities of Venetian glass art from the interwar period. Lit.: Christina Beltrami/Giordana Naccari, *The Glass Ark - Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection*, Skira, Milan, 2021, p. 94 ff.