Learn to paint everything in your home


Murano. Unique. Why?

Glass is all around us and it has been foras finely labored as lace, as light as
centuries. It is so commonly used that wefeathers, yet full of glorious colors. It is
literally see through it… so whyhere that the Murano glass tradition as we
pay so much for a piece of glass jewelry?know it today begun: paperweights, vases,
Just  because  it  is  Made  in  Murano?chandeliers, mirrors, candy-glass ornaments,
plates in different sizes and shapes, bottles
Because  it  is  Made  in  Murano!of all sizes, tableware, small colored
animals, figurines, calligraphy pens and of
Heat a blob of glass until molten, hold itcourse jewelries! With regards to jewelry,
with tongs or pliers ("borselle") and attachone popular souvenir is la Murrina: a slim
an iron blowpipe to it. Now, roll the hotround pendant in colored glass with spiral or
ball of glass while at the same time you'reflower patterns that is hung on gold, silver
blowing through a blowing pipe ("canna daor just a simple cotton necklace around your
soffio"). Then heat the glass again andneck.
repeat the above steps in order to obtain a
small wonder. That's exactly how the magic ofThe art of glass blowing is first of all a
Murano  glass  begins.family tradition in Italy, as thorough
understanding of the material and excellent
Just as magic and nevertheless asglassblowing techniques are required to fully
extraordinary, glass is all around us. Foundexploit the qualities of the glass. Technical
in many different color and shapes, be it aknowledge and skills combined with passion
vase, a bowl, a church's stained glassand pride taken in a work well done are
(medieval glass) or a bead necklace; withpassed on through generations of glassblowers
gold or silver embedded in it or in vibrantand are developed in conjunction with a sense
colors… each and every glassof elegance and style, thoroughly appropriate
object  is  absolutely  unique.to  the  material.
Exclusively hand made by a glass artist, aSome of the Murano manufacturers are
craftsman or a Master Artisan, hand madeworld-known for the beauty of the shapes, the
glass objects and especially Murano glassdifficulty of their craft, and the constant
items  are  unique.quality of their product; think vintage
Venini or Seguso. But even smaller
Why?manufacturers nowadays create outstanding
products, and indeed sometimes they can
Because at the other end of the blowpipe aafford more freely to experiment and try new
human being is blowing life into thecombinations both in design and in balancing
glass. And also for the very simplethe colors, still always conforming to the
reason that human beings cannot make twotraditional  manufacturing  techniques.
identical  objects,  just  similar  ones.
Often the Murano glass - especially the
This is the genuine appeal and magic of alarger, more valuable pieces - comes
blown glass item: one can have as many as oneaccompanied by a guarantee, be it the
can afford to buy and they can be more orartist's signature or workshop's trademark or
less beautiful, but no two of them will evera slip containing a certificate of
be the same if they are individually blown.authenticity. An original Murano item is
And glass has been manufactured since the 3rdheavy, its colors bright and its glass
millennium BC in Egypt, where 1st century BCflawless. The lack of such a guarantee does
holds evidence of the first true blown glassnot necessarily mean that one would be
in  Syria.dealing with a fake or a copy. But then, how
can I tell the real thing, how can I be
Throughout the centuries blown glass hasconfident that I'm not being sold "fake"
remained a luxury material and its art hasMurano glass? Our advice is to buy from a
flourished during the Roman world. The whiterespectable, specialized shop. Like Alluring
silica sand from this area was the ideal rawCreations.
material to be used in the production of
Roman glass due to its low impurity levels.And above all, do not be afraid to ask
Starting with the 14th century, the island ofquestions to the shop owner: the best Murano
Murano, off the shore of Venice, Italy,glass dealers have an in-depth knowledge of
started to hold the monopoly in luxury glasstheir wares and will be all too happy to
creations: dinnerware, mirrors, jewelleries,answer your questions and help you make the
lighting products. It is here that throughoutbest  choice  possible.
a laborious and demanding work of art experts
craftsmen have been producing for manyLast but not least, remember that Murano is
centuries blown glass objects of rare beauty;an investment, both cultural and financial!



1 A B C D E F 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139