1950s labelled sommerso Murano Cat Decanter attributed to Seguso Vetri d'Arte

BUYER COMMENT:  "My Cat Decanter arrived this morning safe and sound, I love it."

A heavy yellow and green sommerso piece of this age is generally assumed, rightly or wrongly, to be by Archimede Seguso or Seguso Vetri d'Arte.  Here, I believe this is a correct assumption.  We know from Leslie Pina's excellent book, Archimede Seguso: Lace & Stone, that Archimede Seguso made figural bottles and decanters for manufacturers of cherry brandy and other liquor.  No doubt Seguso Vetri d'Arte did the same. (The Italian lire at this time was very, very cheap.)  Our belief is that this was a liqueur bottle made by Seguso Vetri d'Arte. 

It was imported into the USA by Hulse Import Co.  Hulse were importers of wines and spirits from at least the 1930s to the 1960s.  We assume therefore, that this originally contained alcoholic liquid of some sort.  Judging by the design, it was probably made in the 1940s or 50s.  Since then, someone, no doubt the owner who probably stored something other than the original product in it, has removed the label identifying the alcohol, but fortunately left the Hulse label. 

Height: 27 cm
Width: 12 cm
Weight: 1910 g
Stickered "IMPORT BY HULSE IMPORT CO San Francisco Calif. Import Permit No. Calif. I-811" and second label no longer readable

Condition: very light wear to the base aside from a less than 0.5mm fleabite, wear to both stickers (heavy on one), a few scratches to the exterior (longest 5mm), a few mm missing on one eye (see pictures), a few 0.5mm and less unintended bubbles. Some minor stains on the glass at the stopper.

Our Reference: 2645

This item has sold for US $280.00

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