Flavio Poli and Alfredo Barbini Ciclamino oro vase Artistica soffiera vetreria – Barovier Seguso Ferro, Murano Italy

In 1936, Napoleone Martinuzzi withdrew from the Zecchin Martinuzzi – Vetri artistici e mosaici, a glass company he had found on Murano with Francesco Zecchin in 1932. Henceforth, Zecchin continued production alone but transferred all activity to the premises of the Artistica soffiera e vetreria – Barovier Seguso Ferro  (the later Seguso vetri d’arte). Here, the few incoming orders were executed by Alfredo Barbini and Francesco Martinuzzi, still employed by Francesco Zecchin. Soon, the skills of the master blower Alfredo Barbini caught the eye of Flavio Poli, and both started experimenting with multi-layered glass. The Ciclamino series is -just as the Grigio oro, the Pesco and the Laguna– based on the enclosure of an intense coloured layer between two thin layers of opal. The opal dimished the colour, while manipulation of the blown form resulted in a variety of hues of the enclosed colour which shimmered through the opal.

Cfr.: Heiremans M. Seguso vetri d’arte, glass objects from Murano (1932-1973). Stuttgart 2014. – Archives Seguso vetri d’arte, drawings, Fondazione Cini, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice Italy.