Partnerships come and go within the community of glass-making artisans on the Venetian island of Murano, where business relationships seem as complex as the shifting alliances in the notoriously acrimonious Italian parliament. Formed in 1942 by members of families with centuries of experience in the craft, Barovier&Toso has proven to be one of the most enduring and prosperous Italian glass manufactories of recent decades. Under the nearly 50-year artistic directorship of cofounder Ercole Barovier (1889–1974), the company created buoyant traditional pieces such as chandeliers, sconces and other lighting fixtures, and it pioneered an array of innovative modernist glass designs with bold colors, patterns and surfaces.
The Barovier dynasty began in 1295, when Jacobello Barovier, mentioned in historical documents as a master glassblower, began pinching, cutting, blowing and twisting a molten mixture of sand and minerals into incandescent works of art. It remained entirely family-owned until the mid-20th century, when it merged with another glassworks to become Barovier&Toso.
To appeal to gentler, more conservative tastes, Barovier&Toso produced a range of lilting, sinuous lighting pieces that are often described as embodying “Liberty Style” — the Italian term for Art Nouveau, taken from the name of famed London department store Liberty & Co., which promoted 19th-century organic textile designs and Arts and Crafts-style furniture in the manner of William Morris. The hallmarks of the style in Barovier&Toso works are elements of glass in the shape of thick leaves, fronds and flower petals, deployed along with other naturalistic ornament in sconces, pendants and chandeliers.
Ercole Barovier began his personal aesthetic transition toward modernism in the 1930s with his Primavera series of vases and animal sculptures — idiosyncratic milky-white and clear glass filled with tiny bubbles and hairline interior fissures that he produced for Artisti Barovier, a firm headed by his father and uncle. Later, with Barovier&Toso, he would explore such novel styles as the mosaic-like Pezzato glass; fluid Spiral patterns; the pebbly textured Barbarico line and the complex, layered and highly colored abstractions of the Oriente series of vases and bowls.
Traditional or modern, Barovier&Toso — still under family control — has produced one of the finest and most diverse catalogues of Murano glass in the last 100 years.
Find antique Barovier&Toso chandeliers, serveware, decorative objects and more on 1stDibs.
VENINI & CO. 1930 Carlo Scarpa Art-Deco A Treccia Mirror In Art Glass And Bronze
By Venini, Carlo Scarpa
Located in Miami, FL
An art glass and bronze desk mirror designed by Venini & Co. This is a very rare and amazing desk mirror created in Murano Venice by Carlo Scarpa for the Venini & Co. The re...
Crystal, Bronze
Rene Lalique 1925 Art Deco Lamp Antilopes Vase in Clear Art Glass with Enamel
By René Lalique
Located in Miami, FL
Antilopes vase lamp designed by Rene Lalique (1860-1945). Beautiful and desirable Antilopes crystal vase, created in France by Rene Jules Lalique in 1925. This vase was created on...
Enamel
JULIEN VIARD 1920 Paris Art Deco Frosted Embossed Glass Lidded Vase 18Kt Gilt
By J.L. Viard
Located in Miami, FL
Round lidded jar in frosted glass designed by Julien Viard (1883-1938). This a very nice decorative lidded jar created in Paris France during the art deco period by Julien Viard, ba...
Crystal, Gold
Salviati & Co. Italy 1920 Murano Soffiato Blown Charger In Amber And Blue Glass
By Salviati
Located in Miami, FL
Soffiato glass charger plate designed by Salviati & Co. Great decorative piece, created at the Murano island in Venice Italy by the Salviati & Co. This flat charger was crafted during the art deco period back in the early 1920 by the blown glass process. Made up in transparent amber glass with the upper rim accented by a stripe made up from blue pate d verre. Soffiato Glassblowing or Soffiato in Italian, is a glass forming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble with the aid of a blowpipe. A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer. The word come from soffietta, a tool used as a puffer to further inflate a vessel after it has been removed from the blowpipe and is attached to the pontil. It consists of a curved metal tube attached to a conical nozzle. The glassblower reheats the vessel, inserts the nozzle into its mouth so that the aperture is blocked, and then inflates the vessel by blowing through the tube. Salviati & Co. The company was founded by Antonio Salviati, which born in Vicenza in 1816 and died in Venice in 1890. In 1859, together with Enrico Podio and Lorenzo Radi he opened a glassware and mosaic boutique called Salviati Antonio...
Glass, Art Glass
Russian 1915 Moscow Nephrite Jade Desk Picture Frame Mounted in Gilded Silver
Located in Miami, FL
Nephrite jade and gilded silver desk frame. Beautiful neo classic desk picture frame, created in Moscow Russia, back in the 1915. Carefully crafted in the Russian imperial and Louis XVI style, with solid gilded silver, translucent nephrite green jade...
Jade, Silver
EDWARDIAN 1900 Pforzheim Guilloché Enamel Pendant Mirror-Box In .925 Sterling
Located in Miami, FL
German pendant mirror box in Guilloché enamel. This is a beautiful guilloche open-box pendant created in Pforzheim Germany during the belle Epoque-Edwardian period, back in the begi...
Gold, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Silver
Italian Murano Glass And Bronze Frame, Circa. 1930
By Antonio Salviati, Paolo Venini, Archimede Seguso, Barovier, Ercole Barovier
Located in Houston, TX
Italian Murano Glass And Bronze Frame, Circa. 1930. Offered is a stunning original, (not a modern inferior copy) antique Murano glass picture or photo frame of beautiful blush glass ...
Bronze
Murano Glass and Brass Picture Frame, Barovier & Toso, Smoke Grey (Fumé) Torchon
By Barovier&Toso
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
A weighty smoke grey Murano glass picture frame, the border hand-twisted in the torciglione technique and set in a gilt-metal mount, attributed to Barovier & Toso, circa 1990s. A...
Murano Glass
Seguso Venini Art Deco Picture Frame, Brass & Glass, Italy, 1940s
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, AR
Excellent condition. No chips and the brass is perfect. Good condition, bracket repaired.
Brass
1980s Barovier Style Art Deco Gold and Clear Murano Glass Picture Frame
By Venini, Barovier
Located in Aci Castello, IT
A clear and gold murano glass picture frame designed and manufactured in Venice in the style of Barovier, it's in lovely conditions. This vintage photo frame is a beautiful and elega...
Brass
1990s Barovier Style Art Deco Clear Murano Glass and Brass Picture Frame
By Venini, Barovier, Ercole Barovier
Located in Aci Castello, IT
This elegant picture frame, in the style of Barovier, is a beautiful example of 1990s Murano glass and Art Deco-inspired design. The frame features a thick, clear Murano glass border...
Brass
1990s Barovier Style Art Deco Clear and Gold Murano Glass Picture Frame
By Venini, Ercole Barovier
Located in Aci Castello, IT
This elegant 1990s Barovier-style picture frame captures the timeless sophistication of Art Deco glamour combined with master Murano glassmaking. Crafted with a thick, beautifully cu...
Brass
