'Alga' Vase, produced circa 1935

The present vase is an example of the collaborative environment of the Venini glass company. The architect and designer, Tomaso Buzzi, had joined the company in 1932. During his tenure, Buzzi developed several new glass styles, including ‘Alga’ glass, a form of incamiciato where layers of glass are fused together to form a thin-walled structure, decorated with finely added gold foil. The ‘Alga’ model specifically refers to these incamiciato works that are colored with a blue-green, nearly turquoise or seafoam green, shade. Though the technique was developed by Buzzi, the form is recorded as Carlo Scarpa, a noteworthy designer at Venini who started at Venini in 1932 and was the artistic director until 1946. Perhaps the best related model number is 3598 (plate 36 in the Venini Blue Catalogue). This vase exemplifies the unification of both designers and their ingenious contributions to Venini and the art of glass.