C.V.M. - Compagnia Venezia Murano

The company was founded in 1877 and is mainly concerned with the sale not only of glasswares but also of furniture, bronzes, marbles ad luxury items in general. It has imported from the most European countries, dealing with the most prestigious firms, including the great names of French glass, Galle' and Daum.

In 1900 it was acquired by Tosolini, already the owner of large salesrooms in the Piazza San Marco (Venice, Italy). In the first post-war period the firm dealt usually in the products of the main Murano galls factories, often marking the items in acid with the letters C.V.M. surmounted by a crown. In 1920 it merged with Pauly & Co. whose co-owner, Giuseppe Toso Borrella , died four years after the merger. The firm also had its own production lines and it appeared as an exhibitor at the 1932 Venice Biennale, presenting three animal figures and a vase and cover, on the design of Flavio Poli, who had just left I.V.A.M., forced to close down by the economic crisis of those years. In 1933 Mr. Ceschina, the firm's principal bought out the trademark of M.V.M. Cappellin & Co. together with what remained of this illustrious firm, and it is perhaps for this reason that objects are now sometimes found with the twin signature in the acid: M.V.M. Cappellin & Co. and C.V.M. with the crown. In the second post-war period all its own production ceased while it specialised in selling high-quality products made by both Murano and foreign glassworks. For the Czechoslovak market it was considered the largest importer in the world so that, together with objects signed by Alfredo Barbini and Livio Seguso we can admire works by Libensky and Moser. In the early 80s, "One thousand years of glass", it proposed the re-edition of all the series of figures produced by the Zecchin-Martinuzzi firm during the 30s, creating no little difficulty in dating these objects. The C.V.M. firm is still active and operates in the commercial sector.

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