Customer Reviews

Italian Glass: Century 20 (Schiffer Book for Collectors with Price Guide)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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I strongly recommend Leslie Pina's book to collectors of Murano glass in the US. While other books have pictures of the more elite museum pieces, Leslie Pina's book has hundreds of pictures of glassware that we see most often. It is a valuable reference in learning to identify and appraise the work of the quality artisans -- Fratelli Toso, Dino Martens, Salviati, Venini, Seguso, Campanella, Cenedese, and others. It is the most useful book on Murano glass that I own.

This book is awesome! I have just started collecting Murano glass and wanted a book to compare for the real thing or fake. This book was recommended by an avid collector and has become my bible. Well set out and the pictures and descriptions are extremely usefull.

One thing that has always amazed me is how scholarship on the so-called applied arts lags so far behind that devoted to the fine arts. There can be no doubt that this is a useful reference book with decent illustrations and general boilerplate information on the various makers, but it is by no means definitive and I would check out the competition. I personally don't care for the arrangement of illustrations by type of glass (bowl, vase, figurine, etc.) and would greatly prefer to have the chapters arranged by maker with the individual pieces of all types in chronological order. The text has the feel of something hastily put together, and I especially miss the presence of a chapter on connoisseurship because unless a Murano piece is signed or has a sticker (which can be added well after the fact)we are stuck with some very questionable attributions. It makes me very uneasy that the price values were mostly supplied by Rago's, a commercial auction house in Lambertville, New Jersey), and one wonders as to the degree of self interest with which these values were determined. Murano is such an interesting and complex field that it deserves the degree of scholarly finesse we get from Helmut Ricke in his very fine book Czech Glass 1945-1980, which I regard as a standard by which other books on glass ought to be judged.

I knew nothing about Italian glass. My husband and I received a stunning red Murano vase and we had no idea what we had acquired. We ordered Italian Glass by Leslie Pina in the hopes it would help us understand our vase.

It definitely lived up to our expectations. Leslie Pina has done an exceptional job researching, documenting and explaining the history, value and importance of the Italian glass industry. Her commitment to detail is impressive. You can literally feel her passion for Italian glass throughout this book.

We now know more than we ever thought we'd learn about Murano glass and all in one weekend. Yes, you can spend hours on the Internet researching and going website to website. But really, why would you want to do that when you have a reference guide like this one available?

This book is worth the price alone just for the spectacular pictures! I came away with a new appreciation for the craftsmanship and work that goes into each hand blown piece of Italian glass art.

For a collector, novice or art lover I highly recommend this book. It's so beautifully done; Italian Glass by Leslie Pina now has a prominent place on our living room coffee table.

As usual Lesli Pina has put together a wonderful reference for mid century glass collectors. The only comment I would make to improve this book, is that there are not price estimates with every photo. However, this is the exception as over 90% of the photos contain pricing.

Great book...just what I was after. Goes into the various types of Italian glassware. Would like to find a book strictly on Millefiori, but this it a great substitute.

Super book for the Italian glass collector. Truly awesome photos and good basic information on many of the Murano artists. Highly recommend for anyone that loves Italian glass.