This video shows a Modern Vase in blown glass created by Murano Glass Master Akira Hara.

This video shows Master Fabiano Amadi making an original Spiral Tribal Vase.

Go to Spiral Tribal Vase page.

A video about Master Fabiano Amadi creating an elegant Red Goblet in crystal blown glass.

Go to Red Goblet page.

In this video Master Fabiano Amadi creates an artistic Cherry Composition in Murano Glass blown by mouth.

• Rosa Barovier, Vetro veneziano (1890 – 1990), Arsenale Editrice, Verona, 1992
• Aldo Bova, Attilia Dorigato, Puccio Migliaccio, Vetri artistici del primo Ottocento, Marsilio, Venezia, 2006
• Attilia Dorigato, L'arte del vetro a Murano, Arsenale Editrice, Verona, 2002
• Attilia Dorigato, Murano il vetro a tavola ieri e oggi, La stamperia di Venezia Editrice, Venezia, 1983
• Luca Melegati, Vetri, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milano, 1995
• Mariapia Miani, Daniele Resini, Francesca Lamon, L'arte dei maestri vetrai di Murano, Matteo Editore, Treviso, 1984

Avventurina: the most valuable of all types of Murano glass, that dates from the early 17th century. Its name derives from the term ‘venture’, referring to the fact that it was invented by chance and to highlight the difficulties that even skilled craftsmen experienced when they attempted to handle it. The legend tells that a glass blower, who was intent on melting together the various components of glass, had to abandon the melting on account of a mishap, causing the operation to fail and therefore had to wait a whole week for the paioli (pans) and furnace to cool down and to his amazement, when he broke open the pots, he found a marvellous material. The earliest recipe on how to make avventurina dates from 1644, but the secret of how to blow it only became known in 1860. Avventurina is a type of glass that encompasses tiny copper crystals (which precipitates during the cooling of the molten matter) that disperse evenly within the material to give it a metallic shine. To ensure that the production of avventurina yields positive results, once melting is complete, the right amounts of reducing raw materials such as iron, metal and carbon silicon are added gradually until the copper forms a precipitate. During the cooling cycle, which lasts several hours, the copper slowly and almost completely separates from the basic glass. The quality of the glass depends on the degree of uniformity with which the copper crystals are distributed and their size, which in some cases can be as large as one millimetre. Avventurina is extracted from the furnace in blocks when cool and remelting can compromise its characteristic appearance. It is cut cold like a hard stone and machined hot following special procedures. The preparation of avventurina is a slow and delicate operation that over the centuries has always been a secret guarded by a small number of able technicians.

Balotton: a metal mould with pyramidal tips and a square base that creates a raised criss-cross pattern on the glass. The “balloton” or “baloton” mould was frequently used in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Goto de Fornase: a timeless classic of Venetian production. The expression in Venetian dialect “goto de fornase” means “furnace tumbler”, and is used to define the typical furnace tumbler that was originally created as a workshop tumbler and was made using the types of glass available. They are now considered authentic works of art, original creations that allow the master glassblower to express his talent in a very free way. To make the vase, the glassblower wraps the red hot glass over a thin silver leaf to which many small pieces of colour glass are added and stick perfectly to its surface.

Phoenician technique: used to obtain a spiral shaped filament of glass around the body of the blown piece Lamp technique: this glass-making technique is used above all to fashion small pieces. It consists in working the full vitreous pipe, fashioning and heating it over the flame of a gas-powered nozzle obtain small objects, decorated beads and figurines. The expression “lamp” derives from the use of an oil lamp flame in the past.

Morise: typical undulated Muranese decoration obtained by applying a cord of glass in its plastic state that is fashioned using borselle (or forceps of different sizes used to perform special operations) Mouth blowing: this technique consists in giving shape to a red hot mass of glass, using a pipe to blow into the glass. Twisted stripe technique: After blowing, the glass is twirled slightly to obtain a twisted effect. Gold leaf technique: the glassblower wraps the red-hot glass over thin pieces of leaf that stick perfectly to its surface.

de Fornase vase: a timeless classic of Venetian production. The expression in Venetian dialect “de fornase” means “of the furnace”. These vases are original creations that allow the master glassblower to express his talent in a very free way. To make the vase, the glassblower wraps the red-hot glass over a thin silver leaf to which many small pieces of colour glass are added and stick perfectly to its surface.

Veronese vase: the so-called Veronese vase is named after Paolo Veronese, who in his famous masterpiece the Annunciation painted a round, light, transparent vase with slender neck that was taken up by the master glassmakers in the late eighteen hundreds and became a symbol of the art of glassmaking. ]]>http://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/glossary/glossary.htmlFri, 30 May 2008 13:49:33 GMThttp://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/murano-and-its-history/murano-and-its-history.html The island of Murano lies to the northeast of Venice, along the Dei Marani Canal. It has a population of about 5600 and is made up of seven smaller islands divided up by rivers and canals and joined by bridges. It takes its name from Amurianum, one of the districts of Altino (and ancient Roman city once located in Venice’s lagoon), whose inhabitants fled to the island to escape the invasion of the Huns in 453.

During the demise and fall of the Western Roman Empire throughout the area there was a consistent growth in the population, as many Latin populations moved towards the coast to escape the marauding barbarians.

The first official document of the Republic of Venice that mentions Murano (Amuriana) dates from 846 AD. At that time, from an administrative point of view the island was governed by minor tribunes and then major tribunes until the 12th century, when it was given its own judges. This autonomy was revoked in 1171 when it was made part of the Venetian sestiere of Santa Croce, before being definitively restored in 1275 with a podestà that served 16-month terms in office. This meant that despite its close ties with Venice, Murano was able to govern itself with a Higher Council of 500 members (before being reduced in number, like that of Venice, in 1602, when access became hereditary), a Lower Council of 40 members (later reduced to 25), a treasury and a nuncio with the task of maintaining constant contact with the capital.

However, the fundamental date for Murano was 1291, when Venice’s Higher Council banned glassmaking in Venice for safety reasons (as it posed a fire and pollution risk). The glassworks were moved to the nearby island of Murano, and led to the island’s great fame, as the only place authorised for glassmaking in the Republic’s territory. This exclusive situation allowed the craftsmen to become rapidly famous across Europe, by creating priceless works of art whose sale was guaranteed by Venice.

In addition to being an important glassmaking centre, Murano also became a holiday destination for many of Venice’s aristocratic families, who erected luxurious villas and stunning gardens that became a meeting place for artists and writers. Academies (citizens’ associations that were dedicated to studies of various kinds, above all literary studies) were established and attended by a number of illustrious names: Pietro Bembo, Giovanni Della Casa, Aldo Manuzio). The many wealthy convents also made Murano an important place of spiritual retreat.

Murano reached its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries: it had 30,000 inhabitants (today there are only 5600), 17 churches, dozens of glassworks, a number of fairs and workshops and a great many important international personalities, who went there to familiarise with and watch the glassblowing.

Through the centuries to the 1700s, Murano’s fate was coupled with that of the Republic of Venice: the struggles against the other Italian regional states and European powers, the everlasting battle against Genoa and the victorious wars against the Ottomans, not to mention the plague that decimated the population. The Republic of Venice’s crisis reached a climax in the 18th century when, in 1797, it fell to Napoleon and was subject to foreign rule. Murano, like Venice, was occupied by the French first and the Austrians later, which also generated changes in its urban layout: many churches (today there are just 4 left) and convents were demolished to make way for houses or glassworks, as were gardens and other historical buildings.

Following the third war of independence (in 1866, when Veneto was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy) Murano experienced a period of rebirth. Thanks above all to the work of Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti (one of the key figures in 19th century Murano, who together with the Mayor Antonio Colleoni founded the Glass Museum and glass design School), the city undertook to promote its history, culture and glassblowing, which once had again started to be exported all over the world.

In 1924, Murano lost its independence as a municipality and once again became part of the Municipality of Venice. ]]>http://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/murano-and-its-history/murano-and-its-history.htmlFri, 30 May 2008 12:31:24 GMThttp://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/murano-glass/murano-glass.html The first documental evidence we have mentioning Murano glass working dates from 982 AD, However archaeological digs have brought to light fragments indicating that the activity was practised in the 7th century on both Torcello and Murano. It was not until the 12th century, however, that it started to be an organised manufacturing business.

In the same period, the activity gradually concentrated on the island of Murano, before becoming exclusively dedicated to the purpose when, in 1291, the Republic decreed that all glassworks were to be transferred there for safety reasons. As the fire risk was too high, a single flame would have been enough to destroy the city, which was built mainly of wood. In the same year, Burano became the heart of the Republic of Venice’s glass making sector, whose product were exported world-wide: France, United Kingdom, Flanders, Northern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean.

The first preventionist measures were adopted: glassblowers who left the city were not allowed to practice their craft again when they returned and no instrument or product needed to work glass could be taken out of the city, which shows a great fear of competition. Glassblowing consolidated its position during the 15th century, to the point that the master glassblowers became very rich and well-considered even by the aristocracy.

In the mid-1400s, Angelo Barovier made his discovery of fundamental importance, crystalline glass, a perfectly colourless and transparent glass. Angelo understood that the impurities in the raw material made the glass opaque and therefore invented a complex procedure for purifying it to obtain very pure glass. It was this discovery that decreed Murano glass’ worldwide success.

During the 1500s, exports were sent to Turkey and the Americas and in Europe Murano glass became a niche product for a lucky few. The era’s great artists included it in their paintings (the Veronese vase is thus called because it appears in Paolo Veronese’s Annunciation). Despite the stringent prevention measures, many master glass blowers left Murano to make their fortune elsewhere and the Venetian style therefore spread across Europe. During the 1600s, in line with the Baroque style, Murano’s glassworks produced pieces with increasingly complex and unusual shapes.

However, the 17th century was also one of crisis, as in the 1620 the plague decimated the population of Venice and the lagoon. This was followed by a famine that also made it difficult to come by the necessary raw materials, which posed a hindrance to glass production and in 1628, all the glassworks closed for the year (unfortunately some never re-opened). For Murano, the situation became even direr due to two other productions that were enjoying success across Europe: Bohemian and English crystal.

During the 18th century, this competition grew and the Republic of Venice was forced to ban imports of all foreign products into Venice to stem the crisis. At the end of the Republic in 1797, following the takeover of Napoleon’s troops, Murano experienced a further bleak period that worsened further under the domain of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which imposed heavy duties on products from Murano to favour Austrian and Bohemian crystal.

It was only towards the end of the 19th century that there were the first signs of a rebirth thanks above all to the rediscovery of certain kinds of glass and the foundation of a number of historical glassworks (such as Fratelli Toso and Salviati). One symbol of this rebirth was the Glass Museum, which was founded in 1862 thanks above all to the mayor of Murano Antonio Colleoni and the abbot Vincenzo Zanetti. In addition to the museum, a school was also founded with the aim of providing specific theoretical and practical training to all those who wished to learn the art of glassblowing. In 1864 the First Muranese Glass Exhibition was set up.

Starting from the first decade of the 20th century, the history of glassmaking reached an authentic turning point: master glassblowers started to work together with other professional figures for the design and production of their articles and started a profitable partnership with designers, sculptors and Art Directors. The acclaim achieved by Italian design in the 1950s further contributed to the growth and diffusion of the Murano glass culture that attracted the attention of the 1900s’ biggest names in art (including Calder, Moore, Fontana, Guttuso, Le Corbusier, etc.).

The art of Muranese glass blowing is still upheld by the historical glassworks and new masters who with great ability, combine the observance of traditions with the innovative spirit of contemporary designers and artists. ]]>http://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/murano-glass/murano-glass.htmlFri, 30 May 2008 12:13:49 GMThttp://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/the-history-of-glass/the-history-of-glass.html The Roman historian Pliny tells us that glass was invented by the Phoenicians, who observed that by lighting a fire on the sand, the heat melted the sand to form a transparent liquid. The first vitreous mixtures appeared around the 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt, lands rich in siliceous sand, the main component of glass.

The earliest glass working techniques were only suited to the production of small objects, mainly used for ritual or decorative purposes. The oldest finds we possess are Egyptian (and date from the 16th to 14th century B C.) and were made by winding vitreous threads around a core that was then destroyed, leaving the object intact.

Glass was therefore initially used as dough to model, until the first century BC. Later the blowing technique developed in Syria, Egypt and Rome, whereby air was blown into the interior of the vitreous paste. However, ancient glass was not crystalline as it is today, rather it was opaque and irregular. It was not until the 1400s that perfectly transparent glass was obtained. Following the demise of the Roman Empire (476 AD), in the western world, glass was mainly worked in England, France and Northern Europe (especially the Rhineland).

Between the 8th and 14th century, there was also a great evolution in Muslim glass fashioned using the methods practised in the Middle East. Byzantium formed an important bridge with the West for this production and also developed one of its own (of Alexandrine and Syrian taste), which also influenced the Veneto coast that it ruled until the 9th century. ]]>http://bestmurano.com/murano-glass/the-history-of-glass/the-history-of-glass.htmlFri, 30 May 2008 12:07:45 GMT