Italian Empoli Multi-Coloured (Chalcedony) Art Glass "End of the Day" "Splatter Glass" Sweet Basket with Hoop Handle
A BEAUTIFUL HANDMADE ART GLASS BASKET FROM THE ITALIAN EMPOLI REGION. ITS A END OF THE DAY SWEET BASKET WITH RUFFELD RIM ENCASING COLOURS OF YELLOW, BLUE, BROWN, RUBY RED, WHITE AND CLEAR. SURMOUNTED BY A CLEAR GLASS HOOP HANDLE WITH GLASS ORNAMENTATION. ON INCISED AND RIBBED APPLIED PRUNTED FEET.
The body of the basket is made of End of Day glass, also known as Splatter glass, Spatter glass, Confetti glass or Friendship glass. Glass makers would save the scraps of glass left over from their days work and use them to make pieces in this design as gifts for friends and family. Hence the name "End of Day glass" or "Friendship glass".
MARKINGS: PONTIL MARK CLEARLY VISIBLE ON BASE.
THIS STUNNING BASKET SHOW VARIOUS GLASS MASTER AND HANDMADE TECHNIQUES USED. APART FROM THE SOMMERSO (LAYERED COLOURS) TECHNIQUE AND THE CHALCEDONY (MULTICOLOURED) TECHNIQUE IT ALSO SHOWS THE PONTIL MARK AND SOME BUBBLES INDICATING THAT IT IS HANDMADE.
NOTE I HAVE VARIOUS EMPOLI ITALIAN ART GLASS VASES AND BASKETS ON AUCTION THIS WEEK.
SIZE: 20CM HIGH TO HANDLE 11CM ACROSS
CONDITION: NO DAMAGE VISIBLE. IN GOOD CONDITION.
MORE ABOUT EMPOLI GLASS: Mention Italian Glassespecially when discussing mid 20th century modern Italian glassand virtually everyones minds immediately leap to Venice and Murano on the northeast coast of Italy.
Most collectors and dealers are unaware of another almost equally famous center of Italian glass making known as Empoli. Empoli is a region on the west side of Italy, southwest of Florence in the province of Tuscany. Like its better known counterparts to the northeast, Empoli has been producing and exporting glass since the 14th century.
Empoli Cased Glass became popular during the 1950's + 60's, when Empoli glass manufacturers moved away from the traditional green "Verde" glassware, and began producing brightly coloured glass cased glass in a layer of clear glass, sometimes also having an internal layer of opaque white "Lattimo" glass.
WHAT IS CHALCEDONY TECHNIQUE? The chalcedony glass is a particular decorative type of glass made from a mix of coloured metals, mainly green, brown and purple to imitate the precious Chalcedony stones such as the agate, onyx, malachite, lapis lazuli and jasper. ITS A TECHNIQUE THAT WAS LOST SINCE ANCIENT TIMES AND REDISCOVERED BY MURANO MASTERS. Chalcedony or Calcedonio glass-making technique was first used in Egypt during Roman times, and then it was re-discovered in Murano in the fifteenth century. The secret of the technique was then lost again and subsequently re-discovered by Murano master glass-maker Lorenzo Radi in the later part of the 19th century.
This technique involves mixing scraps of colored and white opaline or iridescent glass and Cristallo glass and fusing them together under high temperatures. Once the pieces fuse completely, various mineral oxides are added repeatedly to the glass mixture and dispersed to create unique color effects. These may include cobalt oxide to achieve blue colors, nitrate of silver for matte appearance, potassium oxide, and others.
Finally, the objects are blown from the mixture into the desired form, and characteristic color streaks obtained by using mineral oxides become even more pronounced as the glass curves during this process.
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