Murano Crystal and Brass Frame by Barovier & Toso, circa 1970

Barovier & Toso stands among the oldest glassmaking dynasties in the world, with roots in the Venetian tradition stretching back to the thirteenth century. Operating from the island of Murano — the historic centre of Venetian glass production, where the furnaces were relocated from Venice in 1291 for fire safety — the house has for centuries produced glass and crystal of exceptional quality and artistry, combining ancient craft knowledge with a restless aesthetic inventiveness.

By the mid-twentieth century, Barovier & Toso had become a byword for the finest Italian decorative glass, their pieces collected by connoisseurs worldwide and displayed in leading museums across Europe and America. Their 1960s and 1970s production is now regarded as some of the most accomplished decorative glass work of the post-war period, marrying traditional Murano techniques with the sculptural and chromatic ambitions of the contemporary design movement.

This frame in Murano crystal and brass, dating from circa 1970, exemplifies the house’s approach to functional objects: the crystal, cut and polished with precision, transforms an everyday domestic form into something luminous and considered. The brass fittings provide a warm counterpoint to the cool clarity of the glass, a pairing both practical and aesthetically refined. Measuring 26 by 21.5 by 32.5 centimetres, it is of generous scale for a decorative frame.

Signed by one of the great names in Italian applied arts, this piece is a collector’s object as much as a functioning frame — a fragment of the long and distinguished history of Murano glassmaking.