A striking small Murano glass ashtray attributed to Dino Martens, produced in Italy during the 1950s.
Known for his exuberant approach to colour and pattern, Martens developed the highly distinctive Tutti Frutti style, combining fragments of coloured glass, murrine, latticino and metallic leaf within thick layers of blown glass. The resulting surfaces have an almost painterly, abstract quality, with every piece exhibiting its own arrangement of colour and pattern.
This example is particularly expressive, with a rich emerald-green and turquoise ground densely scattered with white, amber, brown, black and translucent glass inclusions, together with flashes of metallic leaf. The interior is highly dimensional, while the organically folded rim gives the piece its characteristic sculptural silhouette.
The small, irregular form was designed to function as an ashtray but works equally well today as a vide-poche or decorative sculptural object.
A wonderful example of the experimental, exuberant character of post-war Italian art glass and the work associated with Dino Martens.
Dino Martens
Aureliano Toso / Murano, Italy
Circa 1950s
Murano glass, murrine and metallic leaf
Vintage condition
Dimensions: H40mm x W120mm x D90mm
A striking small Murano glass ashtray attributed to Dino Martens, produced in Italy during the 1950s.
Known for his exuberant approach to colour and pattern, Martens developed the highly distinctive Tutti Frutti style, combining fragments of coloured glass, murrine, latticino and metallic leaf within thick layers of blown glass. The resulting surfaces have an almost painterly, abstract quality, with every piece exhibiting its own arrangement of colour and pattern.
This example is particularly expressive, with a rich emerald-green and turquoise ground densely scattered with white, amber, brown, black and translucent glass inclusions, together with flashes of metallic leaf. The interior is highly dimensional, while the organically folded rim gives the piece its characteristic sculptural silhouette.
The small, irregular form was designed to function as an ashtray but works equally well today as a vide-poche or decorative sculptural object.
A wonderful example of the experimental, exuberant character of post-war Italian art glass and the work associated with Dino Martens.
Dino Martens
Aureliano Toso / Murano, Italy
Circa 1950s
Murano glass, murrine and metallic leaf
Vintage condition
Dimensions: H40mm x W120mm x D90mm
