Connoisseurs of Italian glass will have a rare opportunity to enhance their holdings on May 23, when the Chicago-based Wright auction house holds a single-owner sale of more than 100 works by luminaries such as Fulvio Bianconi, Ercole Barovier, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, and Thomas Stearns. “This collection, which was built by a Windy City couple over the course of two decades, constitutes the finest selection of postwar Italian glass to ever come to market,” says Richard Wright, proprietor and president of the auction house, which has gained a solid reputation in the design arena.

Among the standout lots is the sublime La Sentinella di Venezia(1962), one of a quartet of works by Stearns on offer. Made of fused, incised, and free-blown glass with murrine enamel inlay and vertical inciso work, it is tagged at $300,000 to $500,000.