Viartec Murano Style Selenium Red & Orange Spanish Glass Sculpture

Product Number: WS06283

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Description

Here is a magnificent large Murano style 1950/60's freeform 'Selenium' glass sculpture. In a stunning combination of ruby red glass encased in orange glass.

Similar to uranium glass, but far less common, Selenium glass reacts when lit with UV light by glowing a bright orange or pink colour. This does not show up that well on camera, but is a lot brighter to the naked eye. A metalloid element, Selenium (Se) resembles sulphur, and is used in the production of glass to remove the green tinge and to make ruby-colored glass. Here is a magnificent large 1950/60's Murano style Spanish freeform 'Selenium' glass sculpture. In a stunning combination of ruby red glass encased in orange glass. Similar to uranium glass, but far less common, Selenium glass reacts when lit with UV light by glowing a bright orange or pink colour. This does not show up that well on camera, but is a lot brighter to the naked eye (although not as bring as the glow from uranium glass). A metalloid element, Selenium (Se) resembles sulphur, and is used in the production of glass to remove the green tinge and to make ruby-coloured glass.

The origin of these sculptures have been a mystery to me for a long time. Although very Murano in style, this piece I found years ago has proved to be a red herring, as it has 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 1970s. This would explain why they are fairly common here in the UK, Spain being one of our most popular holiday destinations.

Size

Measures approx 10.75 inches tall by 6.25 inches in diameter at widest point.

Condition

Excellent condition, no chips or cracks other than a small nibble to the base rim, shown in final picture.

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