For my 23rd birthday, one week before Christmas, my parents took me to Venice for a long weekend. Venice at that particular time, just a few days before Christmas, had a very special atmosphere… It was quiet, with very few tourists around. In fact it felt like we were the only ones! It was cold, very cold, and foggy. And that created such a particular atmosphere I still remember vividly… But what I remember most was the high tides with sea water inundating parts of Venice, and having to walk on wooden boards to avoid the high water. What a magical, surreal feeling it had!
The true highlight however was the visit of the island of Murano… In fact, one of the islands as it is a series of islands located about 1.5 kilometres North of Venice. Although it only has a small population of around 5,000 people, Murano is very famous worldwide for its glass making tradition.
Visiting some of the glass making workshops and seeing Masters at work was truly amazing. Maybe was it because I already had an insight into glassmaking from my childhood, growing up near the town of Biot in the South of France, also famous for glassmaking. But the Murano glass making tradition is on another level altogether…
The tradition of glass making in the island of Murano is more than 1,000 years old, and is being made according to very specific, ancient techniques and recipes that have been passed from generation to generation of Murano master-glassmakers. Murano glass is always made with local ingredients, including the local sand which has the best quality for the art of glass making.
Murano Glass Jewellery Designer
One distinctive characteristic on Murano glass, and a proof of its authenticity, is that no two items are exactly the same. Master glass-makers do not use exact measurements or machines to create perfect shapes.
Therefore, most Murano Glass pieces may come out slightly asymmetrical, and sometimes there would be bubbles captured inside the glass. Two items of the same model may vary in terms of shape, size, color shade, or pattern. An authentic Murano Glass object has an imperfect shape, or other small imperfections, or size and shape variations.
This is the result of a very manual ancient process, where only basic tools are used and where the masters take pride in following the techniques and traditions of their fathers and grandfathers, with no modern technology or conveyor belts.
Murano Glass masters were the first ones in the world to recover and evolve the methods and techniques of glass-making using glass-blowing, moulds, small flame, used by the ancient Romans, and turned glass-making into an art form. While there are many beautiful art glass pieces produced outside of Murano, Murano Glass is characterized by the degree of lightness, colour depth, aesthetics and artistic design unmatched anywhere else. Murano Glass is not made outside of Venice, even if elsewhere in Italy
How Murano Glass is Made
There are many different methods and techniques of making Murano Glass, some ancient and some modern, some used to make very light and delicate pieces, others used to create large and heavy imposing objects. Jewelry is frequently made under a small gas flame from special pre-made glass canes, using a technique called “a lume” in Italian and “lampworking” in English. Mosaic-like designs are crafted using the Millefiori technique, milky opaque designs are achieved with Lattimo technique, regular bubble patterns crafted with Bullicante technique, just to name a few.
The typical Murano glass is made of silica and requires great accuracy. Using silica, soda, lime and potassium glassmakers will begin to heat up the elements so they melt together. They do this in a special furnace at a temperature of 1500 degrees Celcius, until it reaches a liquid state. Very thin layers of real gold or sterling silver are then added to the glass mixture (also known as gold or silver leaf), along with various minerals to give the glass its vibrant colours and designs. For example, copper is used for Avventurina mineral-like sparkles, zinc is added for white colour, cobalt for blue, manganese for violet and gold for red. The resulting liquid glass mixture is then mouth-blown (done by blowing air through a long tube) and hand-crafted by master glassmakers in a series of elaborate steps using special techniques such as Millefiori, Sommerso, Reticello, Filligrana, Bullicante, and many others.
Most of the tools used were developed in the Middle Ages, and both these and the glass-blowing process have barely changed since then. This method of glass making results in the most beautiful creations, rich in colour and surreal in the patterns and shapes created. That’s why, although all sorts of other glassware has been created around the world, none of it is produced with the same rich history and artistic value behind it as Murano glass.
Murano glass objects are objects of high monetary and artistic value. It is this long tradition of glassmaking which I had the chance to discover at a younger age and the unique, vibrant colours and patterns which inspired me to create a collection of jewellery around Murano glass beads.
Each piece of my Murano Glass Jewellery Collection is made with a beautiful, authentic little piece of art…
References:
How to identify Murano Glass | Everything About Venice and Murano Glass (glassofvenice.com)
What is Murano Glass and Why Is It So Famous? (venicetoursitaly.it)
