Submerged in Sommerso glass

It's strange how things work. Sometimes you don't find a single Sommerso vase for months, sometimes you find three on the same day! I hadn't seen any Murano Sommerso vases in ages, and suddenly I find SIX pieces in less than a month time. So weird. But obviously you don't hear me complaining, as they are beautiful!

Here's the thing: sometimes I wish I started collecting these glass Murano vases instead of collecting West German pottery. The clean lines, the strong colours, the way the light falls through a row of them in the window sill. Just stunning. 

Sommerso is Italian for Submerged. And that's a pretty great description of what these vases actually are: a colour of glass submerged in another colour of glass. Sommerso vases, as far as I know, always have at least two layers of glass: a coloured layer on the inside, and a clear or a very light coloured layer on top. (And for those of you who are now thinking: "but I have a Sommerso vase in my collection that is entirely PINK, and PINK ONLY", darn it, I knew they would be there, but couldn't find them on Google!). Many of the vases have more than one coloured layer, I've seen vases with as many as three or four colours. The extra layers mostly seem to be yellow or blue, but I've seen a few with a light purple or green layer. 

I'm not entirely sure why they use these colours. I can imagine that it's because they show the main colour of the item in the best possible way. Another reason could be because of the contrast with the most used colours of Murano Sommerso glass: red, green and blue.

Fun fact: sometimes the yellow layer glows in the dark! Now, I don't own a black light, so I can't test this out, but there are vases that used uranium glass for the yellow layer.

The particular vases I'm talking about in this post are clean lined: diamond shaped or square. There are also bowls and ash trays to be found. They are often described online as Mandruzzato style, or designed by Flavio Poli. I never really knew what that meant. Were those makers/designers? Or was Mandruzzato an Italian term for something, like Sommerso is?

So, I did a little bit of digging. All the following information comes from other websites, so please keep in mind that the internet is not as reliable as well researched books. But I have put quite a bit of time in this, and they are good sources so I promise it will be a worthwhile read*

Mandruzzato is the name of a glass making family. Mandruzzato glass works was started in 1956 on the isle of Murano by Luigi Mandruzzato. In 1965 his son Gianfranco joined the firm. From 2000 his son Alessandro took over the company. (sources: here, here, here). The company website http://www.mandruzzato.ve.it/ sadly seems to be no longer functioning, but Alessandro's website is:

http://www.alessandromandruzzato.com/

They specialized in these layered, faceted pieces. Based on a forum posts byAlessandro in 2009, it looks like they made these vases for quite a while.  Older pieces have an amber layer, later pieces a yellow layer. And apparently the outer layer is crystal! I never knew this.

One of the vases I found last week had the original Mandruzzato label! It even shows some of the shapes that were available.  In two forum posts (post 1, post 2) Alessandro mentions some names: the diamond shaped vase is called S. Marco. The general name of this line of pieces seems to be Molato (bevelled in English).

I have seen a lot of other labels as well. Some examples are: VAM, VMP. I'm not sure if these were generic Murano labels, or other factories who copied the design by Gianfranco Mandruzzato. One of the labels I have seen was from Campanella, a company that mostly made millefiori glass.  In addition to these faceted (copies?), they made another type ofvase that I find very pretty, with two smooth and two textured edges. Confusingly enough, these are often also described to Mandruzzato in the online stores. I couldn't find out if if Mandruzzato also made these, or if that is just a later erroneous attribution.

Finally, I want to come back to Flavio Poli. He was a designer for the company Seguso. They did make Sommerso vases, but in a much more organic shape. The "bow" vase is one of the designs that is attributed to him. One of his vases is included in the MoMA! But it does look like he has nothing to do with the facetted vases.

To make things even more complex, companies from other countries made similar kind of vases: Strömbergshyttan made some organic Sommerso vases, but also a very similar square model in earthy tones. The German company Harz Kristall made a sort of up side down version in dark blue and red, that are very similar. Pavel Hlava's glass vases are not identical, but again, very similar.

Wow, that was a lot of info! It is a very confusing subject. For me the conclusion is that I think they are all beautiful, but you shouldn't necessarily believe the classification you see in webstores. I will go back to my current listings, and update them with all this new info!

If you have more information to share on this subject, I would love to hear it! You can send me a message, or leave a comment below.

*Mark Hill, when will you write a book on this subject? I would totally buy it!

Holes and Slashes - on Sgrafo Modern

Don't you love how versatile the West-German vases are? They can be bold and colorful, Organic and natural, but also sleek and elegant.

I also love it when I find something new, something I have never found in the wild before. A few weeks ago I was at a local thrift store that I don't visit often, because it is about a 30 minute bike ride away. Even though it's far, I have found some great things there (like a vintage Moschino blazer for 2 euros!), although not necessarily a lot of vintage pottery.

This time, however, I spotted the cutest little vase. A small, delicate but modern, white porcelain vase with slashed details in pink and gray. I could see it had some age, and it is stamped Sgrafo Modern.

The slashes in this little vase reminded me of the paintings by Lucio Fontana.

In the past I have had some elephants by Sgrafo, which were really cute. Like this vase, they were really high quality porcelain: beautiful design, and nicely made.

Anyway, I decided to bring the little vase home. Time for some research!

The West-Germany pottery bible Keramik der 50er Jahre by Horst Makus told me that this vase was designed by Peter Müller, who took over the Sgrafo factory from his father, together with his brother, in 1955. On the website sgrafo.blogspot.com I found some additional information about the slices in the vase:

He developed a new technique of making porcelain […]. He put two, to three layers of porcelain (with varying colours) on top of one another and then notched into the material. This method allowed the different colors of the layers to become visible. This patented technique is called sgrafo, and he was the only one who realized it in the 50s and 60s.

Now, let's go back to Lucio Fontana for a minute. In 1949 he started on what would later become the series Buchi (holes) and Tagli (slashes): monochrome (mostly white or gray) paintings with holes or slashes in the surface. He would often place a dark layer on the reverse of the canvas, so the darkness would show through the perforation. The Buchi started in 1949, the Tagli in the mid-1950s.

Lucio Fontana - Concetto spaziale, Attese

Copyright Christies

Sounds sort of similar, right?

Now, I'm not saying Peter Müller stole or even borrowed the idea from Fontana. In art and science it often happens that similar ideas pop up around the same time. Personally, I love that this happens! Even if the paintings were an inspiration, the sgrafo vases are beautiful in their own right. (By the way, Lucio Fontano actually made ceramics, and they are mostly very different, much more organic! )

Sgrafo is no longer in existence today. In 1995 Peter Müller retired. It was succeeded by the company ASA who make stylish, often white, ceramic housewares.

Some browsing on Etsy showed me that Sgrafo also made a wonderful little giraffe! I would love to come across one of those!

Mixing it up

A few weeks ago, my mixing bowl broke. It was a white stoneware bowl by the German company Asa. I have had it since I was in uni (so yes, I have had it for a long time...), and it has served me well: I love to bake, so it was used as an actual mixing bowl, it functioned as a salad bowl, and every now and then as a crisps bowl.

I found myself at a certain Swedish retail giant, about to purchase a new bowl. Suddenly it struck me: as a vintage lover, and occasionally seller, it seems absurd to buy a new, uninteresting, generic bowl.

We all know consumerism is killing the planet, right? In very short it means we need to buy less new stuff. Buying vintage makes that  possible, as it gives items a second chance. I love that about vintage.

I walked out of the store without a bowl and decided I will hunt for a great vintage one.

A quick online search showed me there are so many beautiful examples, like this ceramic bowl by Figgjo Flint, this enamel bowl by Finel, l or even this glass nesting set by Pyrex! I was thinking about using the yellow Italian fish bowl in my shop, but have decided against it because of the grooves in the pattern. 

As vintage aficionados, my husband and I buy many things vintage or second hand, but this mostly translates to decor and some furniture (And books. So many books - sorry hun).  In addition we have been buying high quality new items, with a classic design that will last for a long time, such as high quality pots & pans and a good cutlery set. One of my favorite Christmas gifts from my husband was a baby blue Le Creuset casserole pan. We have been using it for years. It is an absolute joy to cook in, also thanks to the fun color.

While I am on the hunt for the perfect mixing bowl, I'm also looking at other areas where I can buy vintage. Kitchenware is an easy one, because there is a lot of it around, and it can be cleaned easily. I'm also looking at vintage and second hand clothes, and I can tell you that it takes some effort, but there are amazing bargains to be had (hello vintage Moschino blazer for less than 5 euros!).

Of course I realize that these are only small steps, but it is good to think about this. The older I get, the more I start to ponder these things. If you have any tips about other things that can easily be bought vintage or want to share some amazing finds, I would love to hear!

If you are looking for cool vintage items to use in YOUR home, have a look at what I currently have on sale.