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Pair of iridescent Poliedri Murano glass wall sconces, 16 hand-blown elements each, brass and gold frame. Late 20th-century Italian craftsmanship. Authentic and collectible.
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Glass: Mouth-blown glass poliedri faceted iridescent elements
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Frame: Brass and gold-painted metal
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Set: Pair of wall sconces (2 pieces)
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Sconce dimensions: H 15.75 in (40 cm) × W 9.85 in (25 cm) × D 5.9 in (15 cm)
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Tube dimensions: H 5.9 in (15 cm) × Ø 2.75 in (7 cm)
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Bulb fitting: 1 x E14 per sconce (bulbs not included)
There are design objects that rely on colour to make their presence felt. And then there are pieces that work entirely through geometry and light; that ask nothing of the room's palette and give back more than any single colour could.
These iridescent Poliedri Murano glass sconces operate on precisely that principle.
The Poliedri design
Poliedri - polyhedra- is one of the most technically rigorous and visually distinctive vocabularies in Murano glassmaking. Each element is a multifaceted blown glass form: a small, precisely shaped solid whose surfaces are designed to refract, split, and redirect light in multiple directions simultaneously. The design has its roots in the mid-20th-century Murano tradition, when master glassmakers and Italian designers began exploring geometric form as a primary expressive language — a departure from the more organic, floral idioms of earlier Venetian glass that produced some of the most collectible lighting objects of the century.
Here, 16 poliedri elements per sconce are arranged to create a composition that is both structurally coherent and optically active. The iridescent surface treatment, applied to the glass during the production process; introduces a spectral quality: depending on the angle of observation and the quality of the ambient light, the elements shift between neutral clarity, soft gold, pale blue, and faint violet. This chromatic mobility is the defining characteristic of iridescent Murano glass, and it is entirely a function of the material not a coating, not a finish applied after the fact, but a quality built into the glass itself.
Frame and construction
The brass and gold-painted metal frame provides the structural precision that a composition of this geometric complexity requires. Brass is a material with genuine depth its warmth and slight variation in tone across machined and cast surfaces give it a visual quality that plated metal cannot replicate. Combined with the gold-painted elements of the frame, it creates a metallic register that amplifies the warm tones of the iridescent glass without overriding the cooler, more spectral qualities that the poliedri facets produce under direct light.
Provenance and collectibility
Made in Murano, Italy, in the late 20th century, these sconces belong to a period of production that is now firmly established as one of the most collectible chapters in the history of Italian decorative lighting. Poliedri pieces from this era particularly those combining iridescent glass with quality metalwork, are increasingly sought by collectors, interior designers, and hospitality operators who understand the difference between vintage Italian glass and contemporary imitations. Sold as a pair, they arrive ready to be installed as a matched set a practical consideration that matters as much in a domestic bedroom as on a hotel corridor.
Note: As with every authentic piece of mouth-blown glass, minor variations in the faceting, iridescent tone, and surface character of individual poliedri elements are an intrinsic characteristic of the handcrafting process; not a defect, but confirmation of the piece's authenticity and singularity.
