Lot 93: THOMAS STEARNS

"Cappello del Doge" vase Produced by Venini, Italy. Underside acid-etched with venini/murano/ITALIA.

5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm) high; 5 1/8 in. (13 cm) wide

Hand-blown opaque and transparent incalmo glass.

1961-1962

Marina Barovier, Rosa Barovier Mentasti and Attilia Dorigato, Il Vetro Di Murano Alle Biennali 1895-1972, Milan, 1995, pp. 97, 199, pl. 149 Franco Deboni, Murano '900, Milan, 1996, p. 311, pl. 227 Helmut Ricke and Eva Schmitt, Italian Glass, Murano-Milan, 1930-1970: The Collection of the Steinberg Foundation, New York, 1997, p. 169, pl. 158 Anna Venini Diaz de Santillana, Venini Catalogue Raisonné 1921-1986, Milan, 2000, p. 222, cat. no. 187 Franco Deboni, Venini Glass, Milan, 2003, p. 53 for the XXXI Biennale installation, pl. 170 Franco Deboni, Venini Glass, Catalogue 1921-2007, Turin, 2007, pl. 235

Acquired directly from Venini, 1960s Thence by descent

During his apprenticeship and subsequent employment at Venini from late 1960 until 1962, American artist Thomas Stearns created a series of unconventional glass designs characterized by asymmetrical forms in subdued colors (as with the present lot) and other larger, sculptural works characterized by broad strokes of color. Venini presented six of the young artists works at the XXXI Venice Biennale in 1962. The exhibition included Stearns Cappello del Doge vase which comprised various bands of opaque and transparent glass fused together using the ancient incalmo technique.