The Creation of Murano Glass Goblets Explained in 8 Steps

Aesthetic and functionality combined in one product, Murano glass goblets are rigorously handmade by the glass masters in the prestigious island’s furnaces. This vitreous matter has slowly transformed into one of the most renowned artworks of the lagoon tradition. The Venetian goblet/tipetto is, actually something more than a simple chalice. With good fortune throughout the centuries, its productive process has kept its phases unchanged, despite the improvement given by the modern technologies. It is a fragment of history that can confer to a laid table such added value that only art is able to enhance.

But how is the Murano glass goblet or tipetto realized?

1.    Generally, all begins with a sketch – a fascinating projection of the Master’s inspiration which from the creative tops of his head flows in a drawing shape on a paper through a pencil, or rather more suggestively through chalk on a stool or metal table.

2.    The Master put the proper quantity of melted glass, gathering it around the extremity of a hollow metal rod (process similar to the one of stick and cotton candy) and blowing into the opposite extremity in order to obtain a little malleable sphere.

3.    With quick touches of a nipper, the Master expertly shapes this first vitreous agglomerate and through the help of a colleague – in dialect called servente or serventin – who gets to the master little quantities of melted glass with another rod, he creates some decoration in elevation around the incandescent sphere.

4.    The servente gets closed to the Master keeping in front of himself his metal rod with melted glass in the extremity and the Master – using a nipper for looking better after the assistant links the matter offered by the sphere, properly heated for being accommodating. Here, for a few moments the processing sphere is linked to two metal rods at the same time.

5.    Then, the Master separates his rod from the vitreous matter, pick the one of the assistant and by using a bit metal nipper, he literally opens the sphere broadening the hole leaving by the rod. Thus, thanks to the expert touch of the hand, the tipetto’s cup is created.

6.    Both the Master and assistant, in careful synergy, work for shaping the stem. Working with nipper and big scissor, they prepare the ornaments which will be integrated into the stem (for example curved leaves and flowers) and, once the thin supporting structure is ready, they connect the priors to the latter.

7.    The only part missing is the base of the tipetto, the support of the chalice. The third and last component is obtained putting the proper quantity of vitreous matter on the free extremity of the stem while the other end is still secured to the metal rod. After having moulded the added glassy part making it a spherical form through the rounding movement of the rod, the nipper is used again similarly to the process of the cup.The sphere is rapidly broadened in order to obtain a shape close to a trunk of a dug cone.

8.    To the stem-base block as such is linked the cup already realised and thus, through the magical dance of the mind, eye and hand, the Master extracts a perfectly made Murano’s tipetto from the shapeless matter. The goblet is a model of the glass art into which each element created is able to reinvent – in an absolute unique manner – a charm that persists immutable throughout the centuries.

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Luxury Rezzonico Murano Glass Chandelier: A Timeless Masterpiece

With the coming of the Murano glass chandelier,it is felt that the quality has stepped up, at least as far as the richness of the aesthetic elements and the complexity of the production are concerned. Noble father and unrivaled master of this fundamental piece of glass tradition is – without doubts – Giuseppe Briati, who was able to raise the prestige of the Murano art again, which collapsed by the end of XVII under the competition from the Bohemian and English crystal.

He was responsible for the creation of a crystal close to the bohemian one for the brightness, but more suitable to the hot working, and consequently the production of varying chandeliers which can count on the possibility of having bigger dimensions and aesthetic experimentations and shapes prior unimaginable.

The Rezzonico chandelier (primarily made during ‘700) can be considered the prince of the illumination sector. It was made for the homonym family, who lived in the luxury Ca’ Rezzonico on the Grand Canal, nowadays the Venetian eighteen-century museum. This type of chandeliers can have many variations with 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 21, 36 or more lights, even up to 60 since the great chandelier of the Murano Glass Museum is having 398cm height, 226cm maximum diameter and 330kg weight.

The chromatic combinations can be roughly unlimited; the classical style is distinguished by articulate forms of floral sort with branches, fronds, leaves and flowers which cross in magnificent curls, a harmonic whole wherein hundreds of glass pieces, blown and handmade,can be placed on the metal structure. Another aesthetic solution from the eighteen-century tradition is the so-called “cioccaalla Chinese”, the introduction of oriental motifs which resemble the form of a pagoda.

The typical elements of the Rezzonico, quantifiable also in more than 500 handmade-pieces, are placed on the metal structure in order to cover it completely, following a procedure called Investiture.

The concave section, placed in the lower handle of the arms, is called tazzaorcoppa; its old function was to save the wax of the candles, while nowadays with the electric illumination it is used to protect the light refraction shades. Vertical elements usually in a floral style contain the central part of the Rezzonico, called gabbia, in which one can find many other floral motifs, known as the giardino. With the term cornucopia, we define the glass piece which upholsters the handle of the arm. Usually very elaborate, it gives a great valorto the Rezzonico and opening the opera, through the reciea (namely the linking curl) to the use of pendants – decorations hanged on the lower edges of the arms.

To end the technical overview of the Rezzonico, itis important to mention the bossola which is the basic element of the chandelier, a glass cylinder which is slipped all around the metal structure, according to the investitura process. Secondly, there is thecimiero, ausually very rich and gorgeous cover on the summit of the central body.

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Murrina Millefiori: Insight into This Exclusive Murano Glassmaking Style

The term ‘murrina’ today points to two different yet similar entities.On the one hand,there is the section of a particular cane, a segment characterized by an enchanting succession of geometric, concentric shapes of various colors; on the other hand,you can see the complete work that is made up of the interaction of these small patterns, according to an organic design that can be realized in plates, bowls, pendants, sculptures, vases, and perfume bottles.

Looking at the origins, the word Murrino was coined in 1978 by Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti, a notable figure in the cultural landscape of Murano in many ambits, including the historiographic study on glass production, the preservation of works through the foundation of the still fully active Glass Museum, the didactics thanks to a drawing school applied to glass production, the education through the establishment of the Circulating Library and even the information, with the help of the local newspaper called “The Voice of Murano”.

With Murrino, the ecclesiastical scholar presented the ancient Roman cups and vessels where the juxtaposition of the individual cane sections revealed abstract or figurative designs, such as flowers, animals, or human portraits. Famous for the aroma they spread, probably because they are intended to contain fragrant essences for ritual purposes or simply embellishment, these objects have often been associated with the well-known myrra perfume, according to an etymology which, however, does not seem to be truthful. The derivation is most likely from the Greek word myrra which indicates a kind of fine and precious land of Middle Eastern origin.

Today, the production of murrine is part of the rediscovery of this particular type of glass by the artisans and artists of Murano in the sixteenth century (after centuries of oblivion in the medieval period), and the glittering development began on the fall of the XIX century by the glass factory Salviati and the Master Vincenzo Moretti.

Two different qualities of murrina "chopsticks" are basically widespread and used in the furnace as well as lab – one with lighter concentric circles and another one articulated in more elaborate shapes such as stars or other geometric crosses.

Here is how the charm of Murrina Millefiori is created. To fully understand how the Murrina is practically done, here are the four fundamental steps of a process that leads to an authentic masterpiece:

•    In both cases, the production starts with the diving of a metal rod tip into the molten glass mass inside a crucible, whose color is carefully studied on the basis of the right combination of chemical elements.

•    Subsequently the glass collected on the end of the rod is immersed in a second crucible, inside which is set glass of different composition and color, and, if desired, also in other crucibles, depending on the layers and the color nuances expected.

•    The cylinder so formed will be of a mass usually around 11/13 lbs, and, to be worn to the cane size, by two workers - called tiracanne until the desired filament will be reached.

•    The murrina, once cold, can be cut, and then each section will show a motif with concentric circles. For a more complex decoration, special machines and molds with vertical grooves will be used to shape the glassy fluid inserted inside, in order to obtain ornaments such as stars or flowers. When the cane is cold and cut, it will reveal sections with star or flower patterns.

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