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Another amazing treasure from a highly regarded estate here in my home town of Topeka! I was beside myself when I opened the cupboard to this gorgeous bottle. Unsigned but attributed to Gio Ponti for Venini there is no mistaking his style and flair. From the slender long neck, the spiral stripes, and coloration to the cone-shape of the stopper. This shape bottle is depicted in Venini: Catalog Raisonne 1921-1986.

Gio Ponti 1891-1979 was interested in the arts from early childhood and excelled at painting. He eventually became an architect in 1921 even though the war had intervened and his education had been postponed. By the 1950s he had gained international fame with the design of the Pirelli Tower in Milan. In 1946 Ponti designed several glass series for Venini, becoming their first designer after WWII. Although his work is not well documented and for the most part very rare, his spiral bottles are famous.

What’s the best combination of an antiques dealer and a lawyer? When its Giacomo Cappellin and Paolo Venini in 1926 when they partnered to form the MVM Cappellin & C glassworks and changed the course of Murano glass. They dissolved their partnership in 1925 with Paolo Venini founding his own company. Venini personally managed his company until his death in 1959. Many great glass designers, including Venini himself as well as Gio Ponti, have made Venini & C. a name to be reckoned with in the Murano glass world particularly from 1948 until 1965.

In my near 30 years in this business I’ve not had a piece of glass of this high quality and beauty. You need to make it yours.