Who's Online

There currently are 47 guests online.

Viartec Murano Style Neodymium Lilac / Blue Spanish Glass Horn Sculpture

Viartec Murano Style Neodymium Lilac / Blue Spanish Glass Horn Sculpture
click to enlarge, scroll down for more

Product Number: WS13194

£35.00
£28.00
Save: 20% off




Description

Here is a magnificent large 1950/60's Murano style Spanish freeform lilac / blue glass stag horn shaped sculpture. Made from neodymium glass (also known as alexandrite glass), which changes colour according to different lighting conditions.  It appears lilac in natural sunlight or yellow artificial light, and smoky blue in fluorescent/white light (see pictures). This is due to the presence of neodymium oxide (Nd²O³) in the glass.

The origin of these sculptures have been a mystery to me for a long time. Although very Murano in style, I once had a piece from this range with a Davidsons label (British glassworks). However it is very different from their normal work, and no others have surfaced with Davidson labels, so the label was probably "added" by someone later. Then another example turned up with an "Icet" label. Icet are or were a Venezuelian factory who produced Murano style glass, so this seemed quite plausible, however, again no other examples with Icet labels have surfaced. Finally, after following a lead from Collectors Weekly, I believe I found the answer. It turns out these sculptures were made by a Spanish factory called Viartec THF. Further research online has resulted in multiple examples with labels that read "Viartec Hand Made in Spain". I also found a couple of online listings of unlabelled examples, where the seller claimed to have bough them while on holiday in Spain in the 1970's. This would explain why they are fairly common here in the UK, Spain being one of our most popular holiday destinations.

Size

Measures approx 8.25 inches tall by 15 inches in diameter at widest point.

Condition

Excellent condition, no chips or cracks, just a small dull patch to the edge of the base rim, where a tiny chip may have been ground out, shown in final pictures. This is actually very common with these sculptures, and therefore probably done at the factory. There are also a couple of faint surface scratches, mentioned for accuracy.