A very rare 1980s Italian Venini Murano glass large 'Piatto di Tapio' charger designed by Tapio Wirkkala in 1980, with concentric incalmo rings of grey, pink and yellow on a turquoise blue centre with facet cut back, the reverse inscribed 'venini T.W. 80', and with maker's label, 48.5cm diam. This is one of only six examples made in this large size, some being mounted on metal stands. Made using the complex and challenging incalmo process, each concentric ring is a separate piece of glass that is brought up to the right thickness and temperature before being joined to the body when the glass is still hot and ductile. Once all the rings have been added, the body is fully blown, cut and spun out to form the dish. These visually stunning dishes were part of a small range of designs produced by Wirkkala (1915-85), an internationally renowned Finnish glass designer, for Venini from the mid-1960s onwards.