Lucifer’s Torch – Italian Space Age Murano Incamiciato Glass Sculpture on Attributed Sonneman/Kovacs Torchier Base (1970s)

Details

Description

Lucifer’s Torch – Italian Space Age Murano Incamiciato Glass Sculpture on Attributed Sonneman/Kovacs Torchier Base (1970s)

A one-of-a-kind couture lamp … Read more Lucifer’s Torch – Italian Space Age Murano Incamiciato Glass Sculpture on Attributed Sonneman/Kovacs Torchier Base (1970s)

A one-of-a-kind couture lamp created in September 2025, uniting a rare 1970s Italian Space Age incamiciato glass vessel with an attributed Sonneman/Kovacs nickel torchier base.

Created by Humpty Dumpty Design Studio, Lucifer’s Torch is conceived first as sculpture, with light as an atmospheric extension.

The base, attributed with 85% confidence to Robert Sonneman for George Kovacs (c.1970–1985), is executed in polished nickel-plated tubular metal. Its cylindrical shaft resolved into a square plinth exemplifies the geometric clarity and architectural tension that defined Sonneman’s vocabulary.

Mounted above is an Italian Space Age incamiciato vessel (c.1970–1972), cased in crystalline ruby over opaque white. Its bold white discs were fused as inclusions between layers of glass during blowing—a technically demanding process mastered by Murano glasshouses such as A.V. Mazzega and Carlo Moretti. When illuminated, the white discs turn translucent and virtually disappear into the ruby field. The lamp projects a concentrated white spotlight onto the ceiling while flooding the room in a vivid scarlet–crimson wash.

Together, these two artifacts form Lucifer’s Torch: a Humpty Dumpty Design Studio Original that cannot be reproduced. It is sold as a sculptural object with light, bridging American modernist architecture and Italian glass futurism in a form that exists only once.

Functional Note: Because of the narrow opening at the top of the vase, the bulb cannot be screwed in directly by hand inside the vessel. To change the bulb, the socket assembly must be lifted out and then reseated. The lamp is operated by an inline switch.


---

Provenance & Attribution

Attributed Robert Sonneman / George Kovacs Torchier Base

Created by Humpty Dumpty Design Studio

This base is an artifact of American Architectural Modernism, attributed with 85% confidence to Robert Sonneman for George Kovacs and dating to c.1970–1985. Its form is precise and disciplined: a polished nickel-plated tubular column rising from a square plinth, the round-against-rectilinear contrast expressing the geometric clarity that became a hallmark of Sonneman’s vocabulary.

The construction avoids heavy casting in favor of plated tubular metal with seamless joints, a deliberate choice consistent with Kovacs’ production ethos of the 1970s and 1980s. The plating retains its reflective finish, the seams remain crisp, and the plinth sits square, all evidence of high-tolerance manufacturing that elevated Kovacs above mass-market contemporaries.

The base embodies the aesthetic shift of its era—away from ornamental weight and toward architectural purity and industrial refinement. It stands as a credible fragment of late-modern American lighting, resonating with collectors and designers for both its material integrity and historical alignment.

When acquired, the original glass globe was already broken. The lamp carried a non-original socket and end dial, both of which were removed. The wiring was replaced and a UL-compliant socket installed, ensuring safety and functionality while preserving the design integrity of the base itself.


---

Italian Space Age Incamiciato Vessel

Created by Humpty Dumpty Design Studio

This object stands as a definitive artifact of Italian Space Age Pop Art, epitomizing the bold, graphic language that redefined post-war Italian design in the early 1970s. Attributed to c.1970–1972, it belongs to the short but influential window when Murano glasshouses embraced the rigor of Pop and Op Art, favoring sharp geometry and high-contrast color schemes over organic mid-century forms.

The vessel is classified as incamiciato, the technically demanding process in which distinct glass layers are “jacketed” together while hot. Its vivid saturation is achieved through a double casing: a thick, opaque white layer encased within a crystalline ruby-red shell. Within this structure, large white discs appear perfectly symmetrical—not painted or applied, but embedded as inclusions during blowing. Their crisp definition reflects the mastery of timing and control required by the maestro, who ensured the forms remained stable without distortion under intense heat.

The dating to the early 1970s is confirmed by its allegiance to the peak of geometric experimentation led by Carlo Nason, Carlo Moretti, and their contemporaries. The vessel’s bold symmetry, saturated color, and technical discipline strongly align with the output of A.V. Mazzega and Opaline Florence, where traditional Murano craft was consciously reimagined for a new Space Age sensibility.

As such, this vessel represents not only a feat of technical glassmaking but also a cultural artifact: a point where centuries-old Venetian tradition intersected with the radical energy of the Studio Glass movement and the futuristic optimism of its time. See less