Delivery: 7 to 10 business days
Pair of smoked and lattimo Murano glass wall sconces in the manner of Mazzega. 10 elements each, nickel frame. Late 20th-century Italian design tradition. New condition.
- Glass: Mouth-blown Murano glass (soffiatura a bocca), smoked and lattimo white elements
- Frame: Nickel-plated metal
- Set: Pair of wall sconces (2 pieces)
- Sconce dimensions: H 16.5 in (42 cm) × W 13.8 in (35 cm) × D 7.9 in (20 cm)
- Glass dimensions: H 11.4 in (29 cm) × Max W 3.15 in (8 cm)
- Bulb fitting: 2 x E14 per sconce (bulbs not included); US electrical system
There are wall sconces that light a room. And then there are pairs of objects that define the wall they are placed on that transform a surface into a composed, legible element of the interior.
These smoked and lattimo Murano glass sconces, designed in the manner of Mazzega, belong to the second category.
Mazzega; the Murano glassmaking house whose work became synonymous with the formal ambitions of Italian lighting design in the latter half of the 20th century; developed a visual language built on geometric clarity, material restraint, and the expressive potential of glass in its most precisely controlled forms. Their sconces in particular became design reference points: objects in which the relationship between frame and glass was resolved with an economy of means that made them feel simultaneously designed and inevitable. These sconces work in that tradition. Ten glass elements per sconce, five smoked, five lattimo white, or a considered distribution of both are arranged on a nickel-plated frame with the same structural logic: the geometry is clean, the proportions are resolved, and the material contrast between the two glass types does the decorative work without requiring ornament.
The pairing of smoked and lattimo glass is one of the most sophisticated chromatic decisions available within the Murano tradition. Smoked glass, produced by introducing metal oxides into the molten glass to create a grey-brown, semi-transparent tone; diffuses light with a warm, slightly amber-inflected quality that is entirely unlike clear or coloured glass. Lattimo white, by contrast, is fully opaque: it scatters light evenly across its surface, producing a soft, even glow without any of the directional quality of transparent glass. Together, the two materials create a composition in which diffuse warmth and bright softness alternate across the same fixture, a layered luminosity that reads differently depending on the ambient light conditions and the viewing angle.
At 16.5 in (42 cm) high and 13.8 in (35 cm) wide, these sconces are generously proportioned without being dominant. They carry enough visual weight to anchor a wall in a room of significant scale, while remaining proportionate in a more intimate space, a bedroom, a dressing room, a private study, where a larger fixture would overwhelm. The depth of 7.9 in (20 cm) from the wall is worth noting for installation planning, particularly in narrow corridors or passageways where projection from the wall surface is a practical consideration.
Each sconce is supplied with a standard EU electrical configuration and 2 x E14 sockets. On request, the lampholders can be replaced with US-compatible fittings prior to shipping, please specify at the time of enquiry.
Note: As with every authentic piece of hand-blown Murano glass, minor variations in the tone and surface character of individual smoked and lattimo elements are an intrinsic characteristic of the handcrafting process; not a defect, but confirmation of the piece's authenticity and singularity.
