Licio Zanetti, Tucano, glass sculpture

Licio Zanetti Tucano Blown glass with reticello (zanfirico) work with applications in lattimo and amber glass, gold-plated cast brass legs cm. 38x28x18 Murano, c. 1970. In perfect state of preservation The Work Extraordinary sculpture depicting a toucan in an erect and alert pose, resting on finely cast legs in gilded brass that accurately render the morphology of the bird's claws. The work is a masterpiece of plastic synthesis and technical virtuosity: three distinct glass materials coexist in perfect harmony, each chosen to mimic a precise anatomical element. The body is blown in reticello zanfirico - one of the most challenging techniques in the Murano tradition - in which very thin threads of white glass are woven into the transparent glass paste to form a dense geometric pattern that evokes the structure of feathers with extraordinary effectiveness. The background tone, warm and amber with violet veins, gives the whole a chromatic depth that changes as the light changes. The breast is rendered in opaque white milk glass, hot-applied as a separate element, precise in its rounded, soft shape. The large beak-an iconic element of the toucan and a technical challenge for any master glassmaker-is blown in bright yellow amber glass, with the characteristic hooked curvature and an opening rendered with rare naturalness; at the base, a black ring marks its boundary with the head. The eye is rendered with a small polychrome murrine, a minute detail that reveals the master's almost obsessive attention to anatomical detail. The whole is of striking formal modernity: far from decorative anecdote, Zanetti's toucan is sculpture in its own right. Auction References. Licio Zanetti's toucans are among the most sought-after Murano sculptures on the international market. A Murano glass toucan signed Zanetti, on gilded metal paws (h. 37 cm), fetched $3,750 at Abell Auction (Los Angeles, January 2022), compared to an initial estimate of only $300 to $400-an eloquent sign of the market's strong interest in these subjects. Zanetti toucan specimens on gilded brass paws of similar size (ca. 35-37 cm) appear regularly in U.S. auctions, with adjudications varying according to the quality of workmanship and color vibrancy.