Venini: Murano glass, design and technique

On 2 October 1921, Paolo Venini and Giacomo Cappellin founded Vetri Soffiati Cappellin Venini & C. in Venice. Artist Vittorio Zecchin joined as artistic director, bringing a design role into the company from its first year. Zecchin designed the Veronese vase, an early work that became a symbol of the firm.^[1]

Zecchin’s first series appeared at the Salon d’Automne in Paris and the Venice Biennale in 1922. The following year VENINI received the Grande Medaglia d’oro at the Monza decorative-arts exhibition. These milestones show a young glassworks presenting itself in public forums where craft, design and new artistic directions met.^[1]

In 1928, Napoleone Martinuzzi introduced pulegoso, a glass with a dense field of irregular air bubbles. The effect comes from a reaction-causing substance added to molten glass paste; some pieces also receive gold leaf. The method gives Martinuzzi’s work a distinctive surface and depth.^[1,2]