Greyhound - Shaped Glass Sculpture, Flavio Poli, I.V.A.M. Murano, 1930 Cir

Greyhound - shaped glass sculpture
Flavio Poli
I.V.A.M. Murano, circa 1930
It measures 4.72 in in height x 12.59 x 3.74 (12 cm x 32 x 9.5)
It weighs 2.42 lb (1.1 kg)
State of conservation: intact

The solid amber-colored glass sculpture with black and white glass paste eyes is the work of Flavio Poli and depicts a greyhound dog. It is datable to about 1930 and was probably made by master glassmaker Otello Nason using the author's original design (Rosa Barovier Mentasti in Cristina Beltrami e Giordana Naccari, a cura di, L’Arca di Vetro, La collezione di animali di Pierre Rosenberg, Milano, 2021, p. 43).
The figure is modelled to represent the playful attitude of a greyhound. Its front legs have been brought forward, its torso is down, and its rear is up. Its tail is high and curled, with the whole figure seemingly ready to run at a snap. Its muzzle rests on its paws, with mouth closed and ears upright. The use of solid amber-colored glass made on the grinding wheel, with hot-applied parts, makes the fairly large sculpture unusual and rich in color. Flavio Poli designed this sculpture probably around the 1930s when he was active in the I.V.A.M. glassworks in Murano.

A similar specimen, with non-intact tail, was displayed at the exhibition L’arca di Vetro held on the island of San Giorgio from April 26 to November 2, 2021, and was published in the related catalog (Cristina Beltrami e Giordana Naccari, op. cit., p. 94 n. 033).
Another example is a greyhound from the Bersellini collection, displayed in Milan in the exhibition on glass animals at the Museo di Storia naturale and attributed in the catalogue to the production of S.A.I.A.R.- Ferro Toso in the 1930s. (R. Chiesa, S. Ciappi, S. Pezzoli, a cura di, Gli animali di Murano, Opere in vetro dalla collezione Bersellini 1920-2015, Marsilio Editori, Venezia, 2016, fig. n. 2).

Flavio Poli (Chioggia, 1900 - Venice, 1984) had a background related to ceramic art and collaborated in the early 1930s with the ceramic workshops of I.C.A.M. in Murano, of which Libero Vitali was a member. Vitali himself had at the same time also founded I.V.A.M. (Industria Vetraria Artistica Muranese) and encouraged Flavio Poli to engage with glass art as well. His animals and nude figures were a critical success, moving from blown to solid glass specimens (Rosa Barovier Mentasti in Cristina Beltrami e Giordana Naccari, a cura di, op. cit., p. 43).
In 1934, after I.V.A.M. went bankrupt and was taken over by the Zecchin glassworks. Flavio Poli became art director of Barovier Seguso & Ferro, becoming a partner in 1937. With that qualification he began the production of what were considered his most original and successful creations: the “sommersi” vases, specimens blown in such a way as to emphasize the different layers of glass without adding any surface decoration.
Between 1950 and 1960 Poli won numerous awards including the Compasso d'Oro and the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale.

Bibliography:
Cristina Beltrami e Giordana Naccari, a cura di, L’Arca di Vetro, La collezione di animali di Pierre Rosenberg, Milano, 2021.