Important Italian Glass: A Private Chicago Collection 
23 May 2018
Important Italian Glass: A Private Chicago Collection 
209

Dino Martens

Sirventese bottle, model 6319

Aureliano Toso
Italy, 1956
glass with metallic pigments and inclusions 16¼ h × 4¾ dia in (41 × 12 cm)
estimate: $50,000–70,000
result: $75,000
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Signed with applied foil manufacturer's label to underside: [Vetreria Aureliano Toso Murano].
provenance: Private Collection, Germany | Private Collection, Chicago
literature: Dino Martens: Muranese Glass Designer, Heiremans, cover, pg. 119 illustrate similar 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

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result: $221,000

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