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ABOUT LAVED ITALIAN ORNAMENTS
Laved 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.
SNOW PRINCESSES — PAIR
Two hand-blown glass princesses in winter dress, sharing a palette of pale blue, gold and cream but built as entirely different figures.
The Muff Princess — a slender figure in a pale blue mantle painted with gold and violet scrollwork over an underskirt worked in gold lattice with white dots. Cream chenille trims the collar, the hem and the cuffs, and she holds a matching muff at her waist. A gold cord runs down the front of the gown. Her dark hair is dressed under a jeweled crown set with clear rhinestones, with a gold metallic bow at the side. The face is painted with blue eyes, dark lashes, flushed cheeks and a small red mouth.
The Pearl Princess — a taller, more architectural piece. She stands on a hand-painted glass sphere banded in pink, green and gold, her wide skirt rising above it in pearl and pale blue and hung with silvered rosettes each centered on a pearl. Both hands emerge from chenille cuffs holding pearl orbs. She wears a tall pearl-blue hat with a chenille brim, a jeweled band set with coloured stones, and a rosette at the crown. Her face is painted in the same fine line as her companion's, with wide blue eyes.
The two are meant to be seen together — one compact and one elongated, one on the ground and one raised on a sphere — and the difference in silhouette is what makes them work as a pair.
Both carry gilded caps and hangers, and both are finished as fully at the back as at the front.
PROVENANCE
Purchased new in Italy between the late 1990s and the early 2000s and brought back to the United States. Held in a single private collection since.
CONDITION
Very good. This pair has lived its entire life in a smoke-free home, carefully displayed and properly stored between seasons. Please review all photographs, which show front, back and detail views.
SHIPPING & PACKING
Each ornament is individually wrapped and double-boxed, with the applied trim and rosettes protected. These are fragile glass pieces with applied elements and they are packed accordingly.
