Topic: Just for show: "Merletto" bowl by Archimede Seguso

[rocco]

Phantastic piece found today at a carboot: canary yellow "Merletto" bowl by Archimede Seguso.
17 cm wide, 9 cm high.

Beautifully made, quite delicate, flat polished base with circular pontil mark.
The yellow filigree is "woven" in a highly complex pattern, with some lines going zig-zag, while others run spirally around.

>> Link to a (labeled) vase with an identical pattern.

Thanks for looking,
Michael

[glassobsessed]

Wow, wonderful find Michael and I would think quite valuable too.

There is a very similar thin walled Merletto bowl shown on page 100 of Pina's book on Seguso, it has a slightly different form and is green rather than yellow, Pina gives the date for the design as 1955.

Does anyone know if the threading in these Merletto pieces is made from asbestos (much like Harrochov's Hartill range)?

John

[Lustrousstone]

It would have to be asbestos or glass fibre but the fineness and the fact that it's coloured fibre make me think glass fibre

[glassobsessed]

How do you weave glass fibres, can they be bent back upon themselves without snapping?

It is the fibres that are coloured green in the other bowl too.

[Lustrousstone]

Glass fibre fabric has been around for a long time. "In 1893, Edward Drummond Libbey exhibited a dress at the World's Columbian Exposition incorporating glass fibers with the diameter and texture of silk fibers. This was first worn by the popular stage actress of the time Georgia Cayvan."

and Helen Monro Turner's wedding dress was glass fibre http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8941000/8941001.stm

[glassobsessed]

Looking at other examples, the Merletto fibres do appear to be glass. Archimede Seguso used quite a variety of patterns and colours too.

[rocco]

John, Christine, thank you very much for your comments!

I am sure it is glass fibre, but I have not idea how the weaving was done.
I add another close-up of the decor -- though ultra fine, the "lacework" seems to be done by hand.
(Very different to the machine-made fabric used in the Harrtil pieces)

I was aware that it is a top piece when I bought it, but not of the prizes asked...

Michael

[glassobsessed]

Made with hot glass I expect - variations on filagrana etc.

[Lustrousstone]

Probably machine knitted. Glass fibre is woven, non-woven or knitted like all fabrics.

[glassobsessed]

Not in this case it seems and it really does not look like that from photos. While I was out this evening I remembered that there is a glossary in that book, here Pina describes Merletto as "Lacy glass, a type of irregular and delicate filagree invented by Seguso."