Murano Glass

So What is Murano Glass

Murano glass is specially created and treated glass made on the Isle of Murano in Italy. Since the 13th century, glassmakers of Murano have created signature works and processes for glassproducts such as jewelry. Murano glass is a beautiful medium of art, and comes with an ancient history of innovation.

Strictly speaking – Murano Glass refers exclusively to hand-made glass products manufactured on the island of Murano. Be they jewelry items or chandeliers. In broader terms - the term “Murano glass” is often used merely descriptively and only indicating the type or style of glassblowing, the kind of design, ornamentation and coloration of the glass which are typical for Murano‟s art rather than the origin being Murano itself.

However, the second definition opens up an entirely sketchy area which often can be fraudulent. For eg. Lead crystal being sold as “Murano glass” Even industrial production is being sold as “Murano glass”.

To safeguard yourself always ask : “Is it made ON Murano OR on the mainland?” In this way you can be assured of getting the right product.

Further than that, There is a certificate of authenticity which is a small sticker which cannot be removed ,unless you break the product, which is affixed on the product and can only be supplied by registered manufacturers from Murano: Vetro Artisticodi Murano. It is conclusive proof of origin and many Muranese factories subscribe to this trademark but not necessarily all of them. So be careful of limiting your choices just because the trademark is not there.

Alternatively, you can make the trip to Murano and personally do the shopping there. In this way you will be certain of the authenticity of the products.

Making Murano Glass

The process is very complex and requires absolute accuracy.

1. The glass is made of silica with various additions.
2. It is heated up in special furnaces until red hot and completely liquid.
3. As it cools down and slowly passes back to a solid state, there is just a brief moment that the master glass blower can shape it. It is all about perfect timing.
4. This can be done by blowing air into the glass through a long tube and/ or by shaping it by hand into particular shapes.
5. It has to be said that “by hand” in these circumstances means using iron tools, as the glass is still glowingly hot!

Coloured Glass:

This is achieved by adding selected chemical compounds to the silica before or during melting. Incredible accuracy is required when it comes to proportions and timing. Many of the particular colour shades are still secrets held by some factories and not shared with others, even within Murano! Aquamarine is created by the use of copper and cobalt compounds. Ruby red requires a gold solution as a colouring agent. It is for this reason that red and ruby chandeliers are always more expensive than the same models in other colours.

Large colourful chandeliers, require a large number of colours to create them, each mixed and molten separately. Each furnace will work with only one colour at a time, and in a big vetreria (glassmaking factory) there may be many furnaces blasting away all at the same time on account of one chandelier.

In a small one, with only one furnace, this chandelier will take much longer to make…No parts of Murano chandeliers are ever painted!
Even the most intricate ornamental flowers displaying many different colours are made by skilfully pressing and shaping them by hand into flowers in the brief time allowed before the glass hardens and looses its plasticity. Should the window of opportunity close before the flower is ready, the unsuccessful parts are thrown away and the process begins anew – because Murano products have to be absolutely perfect.

Transparent glass:

Murano quality is also absolutely, superbly crystal clear, e.g. without any unwanted discolouration (typically green or grey). When Murano masters developed the technology to achieve this degree of perfect transparency in 1450, the whole world was awestruck. It was acclaimed as cristallo, because it was clear like a crystal. However, it is important to emphasize, it is NOT crystal. Until this day the term „crystal‟ is used to describe clear Murano glass and this creates many misunderstandings!

There is NO difference between Murano glass and Venice glass. Although the entire glassmaking industry moved from Venice to Murano, the two are historically interwoven. The confusion comes from the fact that there is “Murano glass” and “Venetian chandeliers”. “Murano glass” refers to the quality of handmade glass products from Murano. Both traditional as well as contemporary designs are used today on Murano. However, the term “Venetian chandeliers” refers to the particular styles of chandeliers which were very popular among the rich citizens of Venice over the centuries. Of course, they were typically made in Murano.

Types of Murano Glassmaking Techniques:

MILLEFIORI (aka MURRINE)

(From Millefiori - "a thousand flowers"). The basis of this technique is the use of glass canes (rods) which contain a single flower design visible only on the surface of cross sections of the cane. The object is then formed using the cross-sections of multiple such rods, which are melted together to cover the surface of the glass object. This technique was first used in Egypt between the third and the first century B.C.

BULLICANTE

Glass which is decorated with a regular pattern of evenly spaced air bubbles that become gradually larger or smaller. This widely used art glass technique was especially popular with Murano glass artists during the 1950s.

AVVENTURINA

Clear glass that features metal particles embedded into it to create a shimmery, sparkling look. The particles are made out of copper or other metal oxides. This manufacturing process is very difficult, and has been invented in the seventeenth century. It is said that avventurina glass was invented by accident when a Murano glass maker spilled copper filings into the glass he was working. The glass that resulted from that lucky occurrence was named avventurina - from Italian word "ventura" (translated as "fortune" or "chance").

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