vase
- Museum number
- 1991,0108.1
- Description
-
Vase, 'Veronese'; free-blown pale green glass.
- Production date
-
1921 (designed)
-
1921-1925 (made;circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 22.10 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Text from J. Rudoe, 'Decorative Arts 1850-1950. A catalogue of the British Museum collection'. 2nd ed. 1994, no. 355 (appendix)
This vase was designed as part of a series of vases for the newly founded firm of Cappelin-Venini in Murano. The series was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1922, at the International Exhibition in Monza in 1923, at the Venice Biennale in 1924 and at the Paris Exhibition of 1925. This particular model known as 'Veronese', became one of the firm's classic designs of the 1920s. It was known as 'Veronese' because it was inspired by a vase of the same shape depicted in Paolo Veronese's Annmciation from the Scuola dei Mercanti, c. 1581. The painting has been in the Gallerie dell' Accademia in Venice (inv. no. 260) since 1807.
Paulo Venini (1895-1959), a Milanese lawyer, and Giacomo Cappelin (1887-1968), a Venetian antique dealer, founded the Vetri Soffiati Muranese Cappelin-Venini & Co in 1921. The designer, Vittorio Zecchin,(1878-1947), a distinguished Muranese painter, decorator and glass designer, was appointed artistic and technical director. Zecchin's purist shapes in pastel colours with no external decoration were in startling contrast to traditional highly decorated Venetian glass. See F. Deboni, 'Venini Glass', Basel 1990, 35, for a group of Zecchin's designs of the 1920s.
Information supplementary to Rudoe 1994:
See also A. Venini Diaz de Santillana, 'Venini. Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1986', Milan 2000, p. 8, for a group of 'Veronese' vases in different sizes, and p. 58-9, cat. 1.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1991
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1991,0108.1