Mid-century Murano Blue & Amethyst Art Glass Dish / Ashtray

A striking mid-century Italian Murano art glass dish or ashtray, dating from circa 1960–1970. A particularly attractive example of post-war Murano decorative glass, displaying a wonderful combination of vivid turquoise blue and deep amethyst-purple tones within a substantial, sculptural form. The dish has a broad, rounded body with a deeply recessed centre and characteristic pulled indentation to the rim, allowing it to function originally as an ashtray. Today it works equally well as a decorative Murano glass bowl or centrepiece. The considerable thickness of the glass gives the piece an impressive sense of quality and allows the contrasting colours to change considerably according to the angle, background and available light. The upper rim displays particularly vibrant flashes of turquoise blue, contrasting beautifully with the rich purple and amethyst colouring running through the body. Its bold colouring and clean, organic form are highly characteristic of mid-century Murano production, when Venetian glassmakers increasingly explored heavy sculptural forms and dramatic colour combinations. Although originally intended as an ashtray, pieces of this type are increasingly collected simply as examples of 20th-century Italian art glass and make excellent decorative objects for a coffee table, desk or display cabinet. DETAILS Date: Circa 1960s–1970s Origin: Murano, Venice, Italy Material: Hand-worked art glass Colour: Turquoise blue, amethyst and purple Style: Mid-Century Modern An exceptionally decorative piece of vintage Murano glass with a particularly successful and unusual combination of turquoise blue and rich amethyst-purple colouring.