The glassblower and sculptor Ermanno Nason was born into a historic family of glassmakers on Murano. His apprenticeship began at the age of nine. Nason worked for several glassworks before landing at I.V.R. Mazzega, where he was a master glassblower from 1953 to 1959. While at Mazzega, he also executed independent projects, and for the rest of his career, he alternated between working for himself and working for others. From 1964 to 1972, he was the first master glassblower at Gino Cenedese. An exceptional craftsman, Nason had the ability to make practically anything in hot glass, but he was best known for his sculptural work. Mazzega was one of the glassworks that produced the artistic designs of the Centro Studio Pittori nell’Arte del Vetro, founded by Egidio Costantini (Italian, 1912–2007). This studio was christened the “Fucina degli Angeli” (Forge of the angels) by the French painter Jean Cocteau (1889–1963). Nason produced many of Costantini’s collaborations with acclaimed artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Cocteau, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, and others. Later in his career, Nason made sculptures and vessels based on his work for these well-known artists. This heavy untitled piece illustrates the trend in the early 1970s toward artistic sculptures inspired by designs made for the Fucina degli Angeli and by the work of contemporary artists on Murano, such as the American painter and sculptor Robert Willson (1912–2000). Signed: “murano Enason/1972 cenedese,” engraved on base. Label affixed to side of sculpture reads, “MVRANO/Cenedese/VETRI.” Published: Marino Barovier, Venetian Art Glass: An American Collection, 1840–1970, Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, 2004, p. 340. Nason’s work is published in Museo del Vetro di Murano, Ermanno Nason: Guerriero del vetro, Milan: Skira, 2010; and I vetri di Ermanno Nason, ed. Sergio Gnesin, Venice: Grafiche Nardin, 2003.