Elio Raffaeli Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Born in Venice in 1936 to a Muranese family, Elio Raffaeli lived and studied on the island of Murano, the glass-blowing capital of Venice. At the age of fifteen he was hired by the Seguso-Dalla Venezia glass factory where he met Piero Scaramal, his first teacher. Read the full biography

Born in Venice in 1936 to a Muranese family, Elio Raffaeli lived and studied on the island of Murano, the glass-blowing capital of Venice. At the age of fifteen he was hired by the Seguso-Dalla Venezia glass factory where he met Piero Scaramal, his first teacher. There they taught him the fundamental secrets of the magical art of Murano. Raffaeli worked with Scaramal for seven years, first as a journeyman and later as first assistant, maturing both as a person and as a glassblower. The misfortunes of the Seguso-Dalla Venezia factory forced him to move to another prestigious company, Salviati. Here Raffaeli honed his skills as a glass master, perfecting both the techniques of blowing delicate glass pieces and those of creating solid glass sculptures. In 1966 he moved to a new factory, Briati, where he was hired as a master and assigned a square. Here he began to interpret the drawings of the famous Flavio Poli with balanced precision. Raffaeli subsequently went to work with Livio Seguso, one of the great sculptors of the 20th century, where he forged a working relationship and friendship with the young Roberto Cammozzo.