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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Murano & Italy Glass => Topic started by: rocco on February 24, 2013, 12:16:36 PM

Title: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: rocco on February 24, 2013, 12:16:36 PM
Never ever dreamed of finding a Flavio Poli Sommerso piece, but here it is -- and a gorgeous one it is, too:
a vase like a monolith, 25 cm tall and weighing 4.8 kg.
Really hard to photograph due to the sobre colours (greenish grey -- pinkish red -- reddish brown).

Bought from German ebay (and the toughest buy I ever made there -- I even had to deal with the seller's lawyer to get it :o )

Similar shaped (and sized) vase >> here (http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17045/lot/18/) (classic Poli "Corroso" colourway; the revised description is further down -- "auction notices").
That would make mine probably Model 12403 as well?

And the colourway is the same as in these vases on Antique Helper (one of them is labeled), seem to be from the same "range": >> Link 1 (http://www.antiquehelper.com/item/352580), >> Link 2 (http://www.antiquehelper.com/item/337907)
Those are not as massive as mine, so the colours are a little bit clearer...

Mine has a retailer's label from a shop in Lido di Jesolo, favourite spot for German tourists from the 1950s onwards.

Michael
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: antiquerose123 on February 24, 2013, 01:52:17 PM
WOW that is SWEET!!

Why did you have to deal with the seller's lawyer to get it?  :o

 I guess this piece will always now have a real special memory.....LOL......at least a weird story always attached to it. 
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: rocco on February 25, 2013, 08:57:04 PM
Thanks Rose :-*

This vase is the most amazing find since I started collecting midcentury modern things 20 years ago.
I bought my first book about 1950s design then, and though there are only a few pages devoted to glass, several of them show Poli vases.
Since then he is my glass hero...

And though other Poli shapes and colours may be more easily accessible, I love the way my vase reveals its inner beauty only in a certain light; for the rest it looks like a dark monolith.

Michael

P.S.: if you are interested in the anecdote on how I got it I can tell it in the cafe ;D
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: dirk. on February 25, 2013, 09:01:57 PM
Surely worth the fight! Well done, Michael!  :)
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: Anik R on February 25, 2013, 09:27:40 PM
I know nothing about Murano glass, but that's an extremely attractive vase -- great shape and beautiful colour. I'm so glad it found it's way to such an appreciative collector.
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: ardy on February 27, 2013, 08:48:19 PM
Sounds like a wonderful buy but how much light does it need to show of the Poli sommerso?

Would not mind seeing it back lit...
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: TxSilver on February 28, 2013, 05:18:45 AM
I'm off to the cafe to see if there a story of wrestling with the lawyer for the vase. Sounds intriguing.
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: rocco on February 28, 2013, 10:11:06 AM
Thanks all!

@ardy: the vase looks great on the windowsill with light coming from behind, but even then it is very dark.
My normal setup obviously came to a limit when photographing this vase (too much white mirroring everywhere...)

I shall think about a setup with back light to show the sommerso better, which is really beautiful IMHO. (I love that ruby red layer inbetween -- seems almost like a signature feature for Flavio Poli).
And I forgot to mention: it has the best base finish I have ever seen -- no edge, not even bevelling, just polished to a perfect smooth curve.

Michael
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: chopin-liszt on February 28, 2013, 11:28:05 AM
That is something else Michael.   8)
My Michael would have it in the house like a shot.  ;) It has power and presence as well as beauty.

Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: rocco on March 06, 2013, 04:57:53 PM
Thanks Sue! -- It is a very serious piece of glass 8)

I tried my best to get a decent shot of it with backlight (to show the Sommerso better as ardy wished) , but the thick glass and dark colours are beyond my photographic skills...

Michael
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: chopin-liszt on March 06, 2013, 05:03:02 PM
Photos are 2-D; your treasure is a three dimensional scuplture in colour and light. It does not translate into a 2-D image well, but you've done it proud. :)
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: kane_u_pain on April 12, 2013, 09:27:02 AM
That is PURELY STUNNING Rocco...am green with envy! A great piece. A great colour combination and executed perfectly! When you have a piece of Poli sommerso the rest do not compare. :)
Title: Re: Show off: Flavio Poli "Sommerso" vase
Post by: rocco on April 12, 2013, 01:33:15 PM
Thanks kane for the kind words! :)
If I had do give away all but one piece of my collection, it would surely be this one to stay...

Michael