Art Deco Enamel on Metal Footed Bowl by Virgil Cantini

The process of enamel on metal requires ground glass be placed on the metal field and then heated to about 1500 degrees; this process fuses the glass with the metal. This eight inch diameter footed bowl is an example of that process. It is the epitome of “Art Deco” and was made by Virgil Cantini - apparently as a 50th anniversary present for a couple named
Gert and Clare.

Virgil Cantini (1919 – 2009) was well known for innovation with enamel and steel and received both local and national recognition for his work. Cantini long served as a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. Today, many of his large scale works are on display throughout the city of Pittsburgh.

A native of Italy, Cantini and his family immigrated to Weirton, West Virginia in the 1920s. He initially attended Manhattan College in New York before transferring to Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon) where he received a football scholarship and earned All-America status as a quarterback. His studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the Army making topographical maps and models in North Africa.

Beginning in 1948, Cantini’s artwork gained national exposure. In 1953 he was named one of the “Hundred Leaders of Tomorrow” by Time magazine.