Important Italian Glass 
20 May 2014
Important Italian Glass 
272

Dino Martens

Rare Brocca Generosa vase

Aureliano Toso
Italy, 1954
fused glass canes 12½ h × 8½ w × 4 d in (32 × 22 × 10 cm)
estimate: $10,000–12,000
result: $100,000
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Signed with original label to underside: [Vetreria Aureliano Toso Murano Dino Martens]
provenance: Collection of Dimitri Levas
literature: Dino Martens: Muranese Glass Designer, Heiremans, pg. 113 illustrates this example

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Dino Martens 1894–1970

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Born in Venice in 1894, Dino Martens studied painting and design at the Accademia di Belle Art in Rome. A talented artist, his paintings were exhibited at the Venice Biennale between 1924 and 1930. In the mid-1920s, Martens was a partner and decorator for S.A.L.I.R. and later took a position as designer for Salviati & Co. In 1939, upon returning from the African War, Martens became artistic director for the famed glass firm, Aureliano Toso.

Martens' work for Aureliano Toso has become legendary for its inventiveness, experimentation and excess. His innovative use of oversized murrines, brightly colored metallic powders and fragments of glass rods, all expressed in wildly biomorphic forms, have become synonymous with Murano glass style of the 1950s.

Auction Results Dino Martens

Dino Martens

Sirventese bottle, model 6319

estimate: $30,000–40,000

result: $221,000

Dino Martens

Sirventese bottle, model 6319

estimate: $50,000–70,000

result: $75,000

Dino Martens

unique Vanita vase

estimate: $10,000–15,000

result: $70,000

Dino Martens

Eldorado ewer with handle, model 5271

estimate: $50,000–70,000

result: $62,500
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