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19th century glass furniture reinvented
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Cupola Noir
A colourful reading table lamp About Download PDF
Dimensions
0.62 x 0.62 x 1.12 m
24.4 x 24.4 x 44.1 in
In collaboration with the master glassblowers of Venini, Barber and Osgerby, drawing on the magnificent trend of 19th century glass furniture, have designed a contemporary glass reading table which plays joyfully with light and colour to stunning effect. Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby studied architecture together at the Royal College of Art in London in 1996 and had produced their first piece by 1997. In 2004 they were awarded the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize for furniture. Their die cast aluminum chair for the De La Warr Pavilion is now part of the collection in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Their work is also part of the permanent collections at both The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Design Museum, London.
Cupola demands manufacturing techniques of the utmost complexity. The outer dome is blown from a single gather of glass and, due to its size, is at the very limit of what is physically possible. The heart of the piece is a double incalmo joint, the most technically challenging union of two glass shapes of identical diameter.
With its spiral of mezza filigrana, a glass made of a tracery of thread-like striations, Cupola reveals its delicate balance of technique and beauty. Most striking of all, however, is the blazing purity of colour which is the revelation of the secrets of Venetian glass-blowing.