Mezza Filigrana, no. 3615

Between 1932 and 1947, Carlo Scarpa worked closely with Paolo Venini and other master glassblowers to pioneer techniques, silhouettes, and colors that thoroughly modernized the ancient traditions of the glass-making Venetian island Murano. New methods of surface decoration were invented and each vessel is named for the techniques employed in their making, emphasizing the fact that experimentation was crucial to producing such a dazzling array of visual and material effects.

Mezza Filigrana (half-filigree) glass is a technique that has been used since the sixteenth century in which a series of clear glass rods are fused with a piece of lattimo (milky) or colored glass at the center. Because the glass is blown into the thinnest possible structures, the vessels weigh just a few ounces each. In this cup, the texture of the threads mirrors the swirling movement of the liquid the glass is expected to contain, emphasized even in the lip, which takes on an undulating form.