Paolo Venini, a Milanese lawyer and businessman, started his glassworks company in Murano, Italy in 1921. The company first opened under the name Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Cappellin Venini & Co that Venini started with Giacomo Cappelin, an antiques dealer, and Vittorio Zecchin, a painter. After several years Cappelin and Zecchin split from the firm, but Paolo Venini continued under the name it’s known as today.
By bringing on board architects and artists such as Napoleione Martinezzi, Carlo Scarpa and Fulvio Bianconi as art directors, Venini was able to break from traditional Venetian glass production and use new techniques, new colors and new forms that eventually won them critical acclaim and countless design awards.
The name Venini, which Paolo Venini always promoted, became synonymous with Art. His inspirations were always rooted in the traditional Venetian free hand glass blown forms, but unlike other Venetian glass houses Venini sought to study current trends and techniques such as cold surface decoration. With the help of his various talented artistic directors, the company was able to create techniques like bollicine—developed by Carlo Scarpa and was an extension of pulegoso, a technique that resulted in bubble-filled glass that was designed by Martinezzi in the 1920s.
Throughout the decades several international and local designers contributed to the Venini name, such as: Tappio Wirkkala, the Finnish ceramacist, Pierre Cardin, and Dale Chihuly. His participation with the group of architects known as ‘Labirinto’ (Labrynth), Venini was able to collaborate with such notable designers as Gio Ponti who started the design magazines Domus and Stile, and Pietro Chiesa who was a lead designer for the firm Fontana Arte.
Venini’s innovative approach to glass production involved a receptiveness to other fields of art. Through collaborations with designers, architects and other international artists Venini created a harmonious unified styled that blossomed into a designer trademark in which it became unimportant on who designed but rather that the designs were unmistakably identifiable as Venini.
| | item name : | Large disc-shaped polyhedral chandelier designed by Carlo Scarpa for Venini | | designers : | Venini, Carlo Scarpa | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Large disc-shaped polyhedral chandelier designed by Carlo Scarpa for Venini
Italy c. 1950
A clear polyhedral chandelier by Venini, c. 1950, in a disc form with three shallow tiers.
Excellent condition
12 H 36 Diam. | | price : |
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| | item name : | Flat Bottomed Polyhedral Chandelier by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass > Hand-Blown | item description : |
A small pale green and clear glass chandelier by Venini. Carlo Scarpa designed this piece for Venini, which comprises approximately 34 hand-blown glass polyhedral shades in a round flat bottomed form that is perfect for a small dining table or entrance hall. Stamped Venini.
excellent original condition.
| | item # : | TML290 | | price : |
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| | item name : | Cane Chandelier attributed to Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1940's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Cane Chandelier attributed to Venini
Italy c. 1940
An Italian, 1940’s blown glass and brass fixture featuring a twisted glass cane lantern with a large 17” glass canopy, hangs on glass cane rod with original small ceiling canopy.
Excellent vintage condition
TML176
27 H 17 Diam | | item # : | TML176 | | price : |
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| | item name : | Double-Pyramid Polyhedral Chandelier by Venini from the Har-Mar Theater in St. Paul, MN | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1960's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Double-Pyramid Polyhedral Chandelier by Venini from the Har-Mar Theater in St. Paul, MN
Italy, c. 1965
A Double-pyramid polyhedral chandelier by Venini, c. 1965. In a double pyramid form that hangs from a single four-foot rod, the chandelier is eight feet square, four feet high and contains gold, amber and clear polyhedral glass. Labeled Venini Murano Venezia Made in Italy. This chandelier comes from the Har-Mar Theater in St. Paul, MN that was built in 1970; at the time the theater was the largest in Minnesota and was the first suburban theater to out-gross a downtown theater.
Excellent Original Condition
96H 92W 92D | | item # : | TML354 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | A Small clear disc-shaped polyhedral chandelier by Carlo Scarpa forVenini | | designers : | Venini, Carlo Scarpa | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | A Small clear disc-shaped polyhedral chandelier by Carlo Scarpa forVenini
Italy c. 1950
A clear polyhedral chandelier by Venini, c. 1950, in a disc form with five shallow tiers.
Excellent condition
TML353
10 H 24 Diam | | item # : | TML353 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | Six Gocce Chandeliers by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1960's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Six Gocce Chandeliers by Venini
Italy c. 1960
Extraordinarily rare group of six Gocce chandeliers by Venini. Six tiers of solid, mouth blown, hand formed drops hang from a metal grid. Designed to be mounted into a niche with lighting recessed into the ceiling. Spectacular hung as a group. Gocce, hand blown glass is some of the rarest chandeliers ever produced by the Venini factory. All were custom made. Known examples are less than twenty worldwide. Sole public installation is in Manchester Airport, U.K.
Six available, sold individually.
Excellent original condition
36H 28W 32D
(91 H 71 W 81 D cm)
| | item # : | TML343 | | price : |
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| | item name : | Pair of Large Gold and Smoke Polyhedral Sconces by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Pair of Large Gold and Smoke Polyhedral Sconces by Venini
Italy 1950
Fantastic pair of gold and smoke glass polyhedral sconces by Venini. Highest quality glass in shades of gold and smoke show exceptional opalescence.
Excellent original condition
34H 15 W 11D
(86 H 38 W 28 D cm) | | item # : | TML347 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | Alga Chandelier by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Alga Chandelier by Venini
Italy c. 1950
Alga glass chandelier by Venini. Versatile fixture has 9 bulbs, can give off a great deal of illumination.
Excellent original condition
36”H 26” Diameter
| | item # : | TML334 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | Clear Polyhredral Chandelier by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Clear Polyhedral Chandelier by Venini Italy c. 1950 Clear polyhedral chandelier by Venini. Beautiful tiered shape. Frame stamped, “Venini, Murano, Made in Italy. Excellent original condition 26”H 19”D | | item # : | TML345 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | Pair of Clear Polyhedral Sconces by Carlos Scarpa for Venini | | designers : | Venini, Carlo Scarpa | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass | item description : | Impressive, large scale sconces by Carlos Scarpa for Venini. Unusual configuration, glass hangs in full barrel form suspended from the wall. The subtle translucent quality of the glass is only seen in vintage pieces.
Excellent original condition
25h 11.5w 14d each.
| | item # : | TML323 | | price : |
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| | item name : | Monumental Gocce Chandelier by Ludovica Diaz de Santilana for Venini | | designers : | Venini, Ludovica Diaz de Santilana | | Era : | Circa 1970's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass > Black, Glass > Colored, Glass > Crystal, Glass > Hand-Blown | item description : | Magnificent, unique, twelve foot long chandelier designed by Ludovica Diaz de Santilana, (Paolo Venini's son-in-law) for Venini, 1973. Crystal "gocce", or drops in clear and black cascade twelve feet in this extraordinary fixture. Each drop hand formed of mouth blown glass, each one unique in size and shape. The largest drops ranging in size from six to nine feet long, with a six to eight inch circumference at the base; all secured with a metal sphere near the end of the drop.
Commissioned from Venini for installation in a Turin Mosque, this chandelier was originally exhibited at Expo Eurodomus at Turin in 1973. Documented in Expo Eurodomus 73 exhibition catalog, gocce components listed in Venini catalog nero.
Frame holds eight bulbs, with eight additional bulbs suspended throughout the glass.
Excellent original condition.
144"H x 34.75"L x 35.75"D | | item # : | TML285 | | price : | SOLD |
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| | item name : | Polyhedral Chandelier by Venini | | designers : | Venini | | Era : | Circa 1950's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Glass, Glass > Colored, Glass > Hand-Blown | item description : | Four tiered polyhedral chandelier by Venini, c.1950. Alternating rows of pale amber and pale green polyhedral shades give this delicate fixture plenty of style.
Three available - sold individually
Excellent original condition.
14"H x 14"DIA | | price : |
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| | item name : | Bollicine floor lamp by Carlo Scarpa for Venini | | designers : | Venini, Carlo Scarpa | | Era : | Circa 1930's | | Country of Origin : | Italy | | Materials : | Metal > Brass, Glass > Colored | item description : | Spectacular glass floor lamp by Carlo Scarpa for Venini, 1935. Elegantly tapered column of aquamarine sommerso glass. Brass base and fittings. Signed with manufacturers mark, "Venini Murano". A fantastic early example from Scarpa. Similar examples in Venini – Catalogue Raisone 1921-1986, Venini Diaz de Santillana page 262.
Excellent original condition.
70" h x 19"d (shade) | | item # : | TML260 | | price : |
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