Murano Art Glass Seated Bird Figurine, Mid-Century, Orange & Cobalt Sommerso

A vibrant hand-blown Murano art glass bird figurine, modelled as a seated or resting bird with a gracefully arched neck and upward-turned beak. The piece is executed in the classic sommerso (submerged) layering technique, encasing bold orange and opaque white internal cores within a heavy clear crystal body, with a deep cobalt blue mass forming the breast and base of the bird. The undulating, free-formed base spreads into organic lobes, characteristic of Venetian hot-glass sculptural work of the postwar period.

The form is highly sculptural — the long arched neck sweeps elegantly from the rounded body, terminating in a small pointed beak and a delicate applied crest at the crown of the head. The interplay of the vivid orange stripe, milky white underlayer, and rich cobalt blue interior creates strong chromatic contrast visible from all angles, exploiting the refractive qualities of the thick clear glass envelope.

A small circular paper label is visible on the lower front of the neck, consistent with a Murano house label (partially legible in images), supporting attribution to Venetian manufacture. This type of polychrome bird sculpture was produced by numerous Murano glasshouses — including Cenedese, Ferro, and Formia — during the postwar Mid-Century Modern boom, when colourful glass animals became internationally popular exports. Without a fully legible maker's signature or original box, attribution to a specific glasshouse remains tentative.

Material: Mouth-blown Murano art glass; layered sommerso technique with orange, white, cobalt blue, and clear crystal casing; applied beak and crest details