Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

The Venetian Island of Murano in Italy was a commercial port as far back as the 7th century.  Murano Glass it has been know and appreciated for centuries. Mastery of color, transparency and a variety of decorative techniques performed by the artisans,  has passed on since 1291 to the present time and remains for us to admire in the wide variety of Vintage Murano vases, jewelry, mosaics , and many other artifacts.

Most Murano Art Glass it is made using the Lampwork technique.  The glass is made from silica (sand, quartz) which becomes liquid when heated at high temperature, allowing the glass-master to shape the piece before it hardens, creating wonderful objects of desire that we have come to known as The Italian Murano Glass. 

Renowned brands today as Venini, Seguso, Barovier and Tosso, are Murano’s historical glass factories that have refining these ancient techniques, which we admired in beautiful pieces such as Millerliori Murano Glass Paperweights.  Antique Vases by Pauly & C. Compagnia Venezia Murano, the oldest glass factory (1866) are display in The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others of equal reputation.

Vintage Murano Glass Paperweights are highly appreciated and collected all around; museums exhibit them as examples of fine glass art. Most desire for their beauty than for their utilitarian aspect. Today we still enjoy the fascination of these sophisticated masterpieces, which combines old techniques and precious materials in modern designs like those created by Eccolo.

The different techniques used to make the beautiful Murano glass, have not changed much since its beginnings.  Even thou the Artisans have introduced innovative and creative techniques like “Sommerso” meaning  submerge,  invented in the 1930’s, and in the 1950’s the Bullicante a specially beautiful technique, that consist of a glass decorated with a regular pattern of evenly spaced air bubbles that become gradually larger or smaller, creating a one of a kind piece.

Today Murano is still a world exporter of Art Glass, its proximity to Venice makes the Island a favorite spot visited by tourist. The City owned Museo Vetrario, has an extensive collection dating from the Egyptian times throughout today. There you can learn the history and developing of manufacturing Art Glass. Factories like Barovier and Tosso have a private museum where they offer free tours and you can admire the private collection of Master Angelo Barovier, creator of the Cristallo technique in 1450.

Humanity since ancient times has admired beauty and exclusiveness. Defining “Art” can be in itself a subject of contention, certainly, when we talk of Murano Glass there is no argument of its value and recognition as Art objects. Therefore owning a piece of Murano Glass is possessing centuries of knowledge manifested in an Artwork that stimulates our senses.