Barovier & Toso Murano glass. Gold and silver to Italy

If there were Olympic medals for glitzy glass, Italy would win gold and silver with these flashy glass creations.

These eye-catching glass forms are by Italian makers, Barovier and Toso. And when it comes to making glass, they've been at it a good while: Barovier founded in 1295.

The large vase in the top picture is a wonderful deep red colour and has gold leaf crackle inclusions. The smaller bowl again is in red but this example has silver inclusions. I have an idea they date from the 1950s. I particularly like the flowing lines and wavy edges.

Barovier and Toso are still going strong today and have a smart website here: Barovier & Toso

Hornsea Impact vases 1964 1965. Part two.

It was almost a year ago when I did a blogpost on Hornsea Impact vases.

Remember this: Hornsea Impact vases

The vases shown back in April 2011 were all based on a square shaped body. At the time, I promised to show the other versions from the range – the round shaped bodies. Well, sorry for the wait but here they are.

The vases are from 1964 and 1965 and have a raised graphic decoration and coloured narrow fluting. I hope you agree that it was worth the wait.