Archimede Seguso "a merletto" Glass Vase - Murano around 1953

Archimede Seguso (1909-1999), born in Murano, was one of the most skilled glassmakers in the field of Venetian glass in the 20th century. At the age of 11, he began working in a furnace and perfected his skills by remaking 18th-century glass pieces. An exceptionally gifted glassblower, he joined the Barovier Seguso Ferro company in 1933, then the family-owned Seguso Vetri d’Arte business. He first hired Vittorio Zecchin and then Flavio Poli as designers, creating numerous objects designed by them. He left Seguso in 1942 to open a factory after the war under the name Archimede Seguso. Gradually abandoning sculpted forms of expression, he embarked on a revision of traditional Murano techniques, notably those of filigree and Zanfirico (fine filigree canes, stretched and twisted to form lattice patterns). By the early 1950s, his achievements were distinguished by their virtuosity and visual complexity, to the point that even the most skilled glassmakers among his contemporaries could not match them. The "Ribbon Fantasies" in 1951, and the "Merletti" (an Italian term meaning "lace" or "shoelaces"), from 1952 onward, particularly impressed all experts and quickly won over the public: these were very fine weaves of vitreous threads, seemingly irregular, producing multiple harmoniously arranged weft effects with a strong graphic impact. Various models of "a merletti" vases were presented at the Venice Biennales and Milan Triennales during the 1950s, and exhibited abroad at major glass art events in Gothenburg, Paris, Vienna, and Lisbon. Many of Archimede Seguso's works have since been included in the permanent collections of major international museums. During the 1960s, Archimede Seguso created various pieces for renowned international artists at the renowned Fucina degli Angeli (Centro Studio Pittori nell'Arte del Vetro di Murano, founded in 1950 by Egidio Costantini).
The "a merletto" vase I'm offering for sale today is a 1950s production,
with its original label, made of clear glass with a flattened oval section and a wavy neck. This upper rim is colored with a very fluid pinkish-red glass flow, with a stunning organic lyricism that flows axially along both sides of the vase: it overlaps, almost contrasting
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with the ultra-fine graphic precision of the "merletti" inside the body of the vase. There's a kind of wise but conscious "letting go" here, very much in the refined and casual vein of the Italian 1950s...