Murano Sommerso bowl, amber & ruby red with scroll ends, original label, 46 cm, 1960s/70s

This large bowl was free-formed at the furnace on the island of Murano near Venice and still carries its original golden-yellow foil label in the shape of a scroll, reading “Murano Glass Made in Italy”. This type of label is documented as a generic origin label used by various glassworks and exporters on the island; it confirms Murano as the place of origin but not a specific manufacturer, and there is no signature. Technique, colouring and design language point to the 1960s or 1970s, when two-coloured sommerso bowls with pulled, curled ends were produced in large numbers as table centrepieces.

In the sommerso technique, a warm, honey-gold amber core lies beneath a ruby red casing that deepens towards the edges and turns almost into a dark aubergine at the tips. The elongated body is pulled out at both narrow ends into sweeping arms that finish in small scrolls, while the rim between them is folded into irregular, wave-like points. A spiral twist is visible in the base, which looks like a swirl when seen from above and guides the light through the thick-walled glass in fine ribs.

As a centrepiece on the dining table, a fruit bowl on a sideboard or a sculptural object against the light on a windowsill, the bowl suits a mid-century interior as well as a contemporary setting. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks or flakes, and the original label is intact; small bubbles or striations in the glass are part of free shaping at the furnace and are not damage. The bowl measures 46 cm in length, 22 cm in width and 18.5 cm in height.