Blown glass vase signed by Robert Pierini

Small blown glass vase by Robert Pierini, 1989. Represented in the collections of glass, design, and arts and crafts museums in France, Italy, and Germany, Robert Pierini began his career at the Biot glassworks alongside Eloi Monod, before co-founding a workshop in Montauroux and then opening his own in the former Biot oil mill. A friend of the Studio Glass Movement, the master glassmaker chose to turn away from tableware in favor of unique pieces, vases, bottles, and other sculptures. After an initial period of classically inspired vases, he reduced his palette to vases with stems and necks connected by a cord. Chosen to represent France at the Grand Salon des Métiers d'Art in Tokyo in 1984, he was inspired by the finesse of Japanese motifs, which would permanently modify his forms. Nicknamed "the great glass designer," Robert Pierini invented the technique of blown pleated-draped glass.