Fazzoletto

The Fazzoletto vase was designed by artist Fulvio Bianconi and Paolo Venini in 1948 and is now one of the classic pieces from the renowned Murano glassworks. Celebrated worldwide as one of the most original design vases of the great Venetian glassmaking tradition, Fazzoletto is part of prestigious collections such as that of MoMA in New York.

The history of this vase begins during the 1948 Venice Art Biennale when painter Fulvio Bianconi emerged within the artistic landscape of the time and was noticed by one of the owners of one of Murano’s most important glassworks, Paolo Venini. 

Venini glassworks had earned a reputation for being one of the best in terms of glassworking techniques, combining the traditional knowledge of Murano’s master glassmakers with new techniques and, most importantly, with the ideas of avant-garde artists.

Thus, thanks to the ideas of artist Fulvio Bianconi and the technical skills of the master glassmakers, the Fazzoletto vase was born. It is said that Bianconi conceived the design while observing the skirts of Murano women fluttering in the wind.

In reality, a certain source of inspiration for Bianconi was the Cartoccio vase by Pietro Chiesa from 1932 for FontanaArte. The difference between the two lies in the material (Chiesa’s is made from a sheet of industrial glass) and Bianconi’s abandonment of symmetry. 

The result is an object produced in series but with traditional artisanal techniques, unexpected, light, and poetic.

Since then, this beautiful design vase has been produced in dozens of different colors and has never gone out of production, becoming one of the icons of 1950s Italian design.