Leseprobe

owned the S.A.I.A.R. Ferro Toso glass factory on Murano finally acquired and absorbed both companies in 1937. Henceforth, pro- duction continued as Ferro Toso Barovier, a name that ultimately changed to Barovier & Toso. After Nicolò’s withdrawal, Ercole Barovier continued on, determin- ing the artistic output of the glass plant alone. With the exception of some E.N.A.P.I. models designed by external artists but executed by Vetreria Barovier, Ercole designed the entire catalogue—includ- ing the techniques and forms. Around 1925, a new numeration system starting at 10000 was introduced. The system has been used by the various successor companies until the present day. In the first years after themerger, some original S.A.I.A.R. output was produced simultaneously, but the original S.A.I.A.R. numberingwas maintained for those products. Among contemporary glass factories, the Barovier factory repre- sented a noteworthy exception. It was the only company that never workedwith external designers, aside fromsporadic collaborations to order. While the products of such collaborations were at times added to themodel books, their manufacture did not influence the company’s proprietary output. Ercole’s knowledge of prime mate- rials and their various forms of application kept triggering his curi- osity. Most of his technical inventions were born empirically, directly in front of the furnace (Fig. 1). Although distinctive in style, the factory’s innovative output was in line with the characteristics of the times. Due to its uniqueness, Ercole’s production remained contemporary, regardless of the period. Themethods that Ercole Barovier used can roughly be divided into two groups, each from a different period separated by the second world war. Before the war, Ercole’s approach was primarily based on glassblowing. He invented new glass types such as acciao and used chemicals to treat the surface (for example, the Primavera technique). In the mid-1930s, his exper- iments with raw colouring oxides led to the discovery of his most well-known invention: colourisation through heat without fusion (Fig. 2). Coloured glass has always been obtained by addingmetal oxides to the glass mass during the fusion process. When metal oxides are used in their initial powder form, a specific level of heat will provoke colourisation but is insufficient for the powder tomerge with the glass wall. As themetal cannot melt, a thick crust is formed on the surface. Further blowing results in the crust breaking into scattered particles, which are often trapped under an additional layer of glass. Ercole’s most representative series were the Gemmate, in which the colour determined the name: Marina gem- mata is a blue series and Autunno gemmato is golden brown. By varying the thickness of the crust, amore regular effect could be obtained. 2 Ercole Barovier, Eugeneo , 1951 Technik des Färbens durch Hitze ohne Verschmelzen Ercole Barovier, Eugeneo , 1951 Colourisation through heat without fusion 35