These bowls were called “geodes” as they resembled geode rocks that have been sliced neatly in two to reveal and stunning and colourful interior.
Italian glass geode bowls are perfectly flat with a wide rim and usually consist of two or more layers of case glass. They are popular shapes and designs made by several Italian glass manufacturers on the Venetian island of Murano. They are often unsigned – making it very difficult to identify the maker of an unmarked piece. You could often do this if a paper label was applied – but this is not a regular addition. My lovely bowl is a large size and very heavy – it is unsigned. Geodes were made in many shapes – circular, square, triangular – and also in more adventurous designs such as a figure of eight or kidney shapes.
This pink and white colour combination was popular with geode bowls made by Archimede Seguso, as were his use of “polveri” of tiny glittering gold leaf sprinkle inclusions in the glass.
My bowl is an exceptionally large one. It is very chunky and of a heavy weight - unpacked it is a stonking 3.6 kg. It has three layers - a pink layer (with gold polveri) which is on the top of the bowl and below a white layer - then all cased in clear glass.
Dimensions: it is 8 1/4 inches at the widest point - and 3 3/4 inches in height.
It is in good vintage condition - probably dating to around the 1960s. It has no chips or cracks - or scratches to the glass. It does, however, seem to have a little indentation on the base of the bowl (done in the making) which looks like a mark from the top of a finger when the glass was still hot. You only see this when the bowl is slanted to a raking light but not when on display. This has been taken into account with my pricing. It would look fabulous as a large sculptural piece of a dark wood coffee table or bureau.
I have taken lots of images for your inspection. I am ascribing the bowl as possibly being made by Archimede Seguso - or at the Seguso glassworks.
Given the size and the weight of this big bowl - it will have to be sent with Parcelforce recorded mail - this will cost £10 in the UK and applied to your order at the checkout.