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intial bids:
October 13, 2000

Portrait Canes, or murrine
"Encouraged by the successful results achieved with their millefiori canes, the Franchini's hit upon the idea of making canes containing motifs other than the geometric patterns they had produced hitherto... As far as the Franchini's were concerned, murrine made from animal-shaped dip molds (regarded as the height of finesse by Bohemian and French paperweight manufacturers) were only the starting point for far more elaborate creations...-Miniature Masterpieces-Mosaic Glass 1838-1924. (See Miniature Masterpieces, pp. 33-90.)

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 62 Rare and highly decorated Venetian lampworked round scent bottle, with seven portrait canes and swirls of eye-catching color. Finished with metal filigree collar, stopper with cork and chatelaine chain. The portraits include: Ferdinand I, Pope Pius IX in liturgical collar; two portraits in opposite profiles of a gentleman with a handlebar mustache, possibly Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy from 1861 to 1878; and three identical canes of a hirsute man in a red militia coat, likely Garibaldi. Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Length 2 3/8". Estimate: $1500 - 2000
Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 63 Opalescent Venetian lampworked round scent bottle with six portrait canes and one gondola cane. "Once the (gondola) cane had been formed and drawn out until it was slender enough to be reheated... it was enclosed by a ring of stars, circles, or other motifs to produce a charming and characteristic souvenir for the delectation of the countless tourists who poured into Venice."-Miniature Masterpieces. The depths of the glass reveal a peacock's tail of blue, turquoise, green, and teal, topped with metal filigree collar, stopper with cork and chatelaine chain. The portrait canes include the patriot Garibaldi, and Pope Pius IX. Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Height 2 3/8". Estimate: $1,200-2,000
Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 64 Ornate Venetian lampworked round scent bottle with seven portrait canes. One murrina showing a bridge (See detail below). Aventurine and myriad glass tumble together exquisitely. Topped with metal filigree collar, stopper with cork and chatelaine chain. The remaining portraits feature Guiseppe Garibaldi, Pope Pius IX, Ferdinand I, and one of Francis Joseph I. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Height 2 7/16". Estimate: $1200 - 2000
Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 65 Venetian lampworked round scent bottle with nine portrait canes, and two gondola canes, in swirls of festive color. topped with brass stopper, cork and chatelaine chain. The murrina include three of Ferdinand I, two of Pope Pius IX, two of Garibaldi, one of Francis Joseph I, and Victor Emmanuel II. "In the liquefied transparency of the punctiform colours of the 'murrine' we still have that diffuse aura (the luminous quintessence of uniqueness) whose death has been decreed... by industrial production (and reproduction.)" -murrinAURA, Michela Giacon, catalogue: Mario Dei Rossi exhibit. Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Height 2 3/8" . Estimate: $1500 - 2200
Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 66 Unusual Venetian lampworked ovoid scent bottle with five portrait canes, and swirls of metallic foil glass in mixed hues, topped with a brass hinged stopper and chatelaine chain. The murrina show a variety of men (See detail below). Unknown manufacturer, late nineteenth century. Small annealing crack down the middle of both sides. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Height 2 13/16". Estimate: $600 - 800
Click on the image to enlarge	Lot 67 Important Venetian lampworked round scent bottle with a portrait cane, an homage to Saint Mark (See detail below). Metallic foil glass blooms through the glass in shades of rich gold, rose, silver and yellow. The chatelaine chain is intact, topped with a hinged stopper set with a blue glass "gemstone." Small vertical annealing crack on front. Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Height 2 1/2". Estimate: $1200 - 1500
Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view	Lot 68 Venetian lampworked ovoid scent bottle with two "American Indian" murrine (See detail below). Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Exhibited at the Corning Museum of Glass, 1960s. Height 2 13/16". Estimate: $1200 - 2000

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Click on the image to enlarge "Rialto Bridge" (Lot 64)	Detail photo 8 (Lot 64): The murrina of a bridge is most certainly the famous landmark, the Rialto Bridge, as durable an icon as gondolas or Carnavale masks. An emblem of Venetian engineering and the only bridge to cross the Grand Canal until the nineteenth century. Back to Lot 64
Click on the image to enlarge "Chinese/African Youths" (Lot 66)	Detail photo 9 (Lot 66): African, Asian, and "non-European" faces appear in canes as exotic archetypes. "The flasks with Chinese and other foreign faces were made to celebrate the uniting of all the small principalities under one king, Umberto I."-A. Christian Revi. Back to Lot 66
Click on the image to enlarge "St. Mark's Lion" (Lot 67)	Detail photo 10 (Lot 67): The single portrait cane shows the patron of Venice, San Marco's emblematic "lion": the iconic feline face framed by wings and an open book, presumably the eponymous gospel. A savvy murrine maker obviously knew it was appropriate decoration for a fashionable, yet devout member of Venice society. "Here it is S. Marco, the tower, the piazza, Palazzo Ducale. Probably such a jewel doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."-Hippolyte Taine (Source: Dr. Claudio Raffael, 1996-2000, Venetia.com.) Back to Lot 67
Click on the image to enlarge "American Indian" (Lot 68)	Detail photo 11 (Lot 68): The two portraits show identical American Indian profiles, the one on the back displayed in reverse. (See Miniature Portraits in Glass Rods, p. 28, fig. 8; Miniature Masterpieces, p. 89, figs. 688-96.) "Millefiori plaques did not present...any particular technical problems...(Scent bottles) required greater skill because the glass mass was liable to break unless it was heated and...cooled slowly and evenly."-Miniature Masterpieces. Back to Lot 68