Murano Sommerso Geode Bowl · red-opal · 1960s

A triangular Sommerso bowl from Murano in the iconic geode shape: three gently curled points with a deep, hollow centre between them. At its heart glows a vivid red-orange glass core, embedded in a milky opal casing that shifts between white, soft rosé and lavender depending on the light; along the outer edges a thin uranium-yellow veil flashes up and emphasises the layered structure. The walls are thick and the bowl feels heavy in the hand, with clearly legible transitions between the glass layers — typical features of high-quality Murano Sommerso work of the 1950s and 60s. At 16.5 cm in diameter and 7 cm high, the bowl is generous enough for jewellery, smoking accessories or small still lifes, yet compact enough for a coffee table, sideboard or desk.

The Sommerso technique (“submerged”) became an international phenomenon in the 1950s through Flavio Poli at Seguso Vetri d'Arte — Poli received the Compasso d'Oro in 1954 for a Sommerso vase of this kind. The triangular geode shown here is one of the best-known form families of the period and was taken up in variations by several Murano manufacturers in the 1960s. Without a maker's label, a definitive attribution to a specific workshop is not possible; style, glass quality and layering, however, clearly place it in the Seguso/Poli school of the early 1960s. The condition is very good: no chips, no cracks, the polished base is clean, and the surface shows only the fine patina sheen to be expected from glass of this quality after 60 years.