sculpture

Richard Marquis has always been a maker and a collector of objects, and he frequently uses his collections in the creation of his objects, combining found pieces—such as a saltshaker, a toy metal car, or a shaving brush—with his glass elements. Marquis collects cast-iron dogs (he loves English setters) and all sizes of anvils. Mindful of shipping costs, he decided that it would be better to have his anvils reproduced in wood for his sculptures, rather than using the cumbersome originals. Granulare (granular glass) is a type of fused and blown glass that was developed at Venini around 1940 by the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906–1978) and researched and revived 50 years later by Marquis. The white granulare “dots” have a higher-temperature melting point than the glass of the surrounding color, so the white glass stays stiff even when the surrounding color becomes soft and malleable. The surface of granulare is thus bumpy and tactile.