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ABOUT LAVED ITALIAN ORNAMENTSLaved has been making hand-blown Christmas ornaments in Northern Italy since 1952, part of the tradition that emerged in small workshops after the Second World War. These are free-blown rather than mold-blown — the glass is shaped by hand at the lamp, without a mold, so no two pieces are dimensionally identical — then hand-painted in fine detail.
Collectors distinguish Laved from its better-known contemporary De Carlini chiefly by painting style and by Laved\'s frequent use of a matte rather than glossy finish. The faces are where the difference shows most: individually painted, with a delicacy that has nowhere to hide.
SANTA ON THE WORLD
A Santa seated astride the globe, checking his list — a large two-part Laved composition with the storytelling this maker does best.
The globe is the piece\'s centerpiece and is remarkable work: a hand-painted sphere with the continents rendered in green, ochre and blue over a pale ground, the oceans dusted with fine glitter, latitude and longitude lines drawn in, and the equator marked in a dark band. The Arctic is capped in white glitter, and it\'s on that cap that Santa sits. The geography is painted with enough care that landmasses are actually identifiable — Africa, Eurasia and the Americas all read correctly depending on how the piece is turned.
Santa is worked in bright red mirrored glass with a white glittered cap and trim, a black belt, and black boots with painted laces that hang down over the globe\'s surface. His face is painted in the fine line work Laved is known for: blue eyes, arched brows, a white moustache and beard. In his hands he holds a long paper scroll lettered by hand — \"Good boys / girls\" at the head, with a column of names running down its length — which drapes across the globe and falls below it.
The composition works from every angle. From the front you get the list and the face; from behind, the boot soles and the far side of the world.
PROVENANCE
Purchased new in Italy in the 1990s and brought back to the United States. Held in a single private collection since.
CONDITION
Very good. This ornament has lived its entire life in a smoke-free home, carefully displayed and properly stored between seasons. Please review all photographs, which show all sides.
SHIPPING & PACKING
Wrapped and double-boxed, with the paper scroll protected separately. This is a fragile glass piece with a paper element and it is packed accordingly.
