Customer Reviews

Murano - Island of Glass

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Virtually anything that carries the label Venetian Glass will not have been made in the city of Venice but on the Island of Murano. In the late thirteenth century, all of the glassblowers in Venice were ordered to move to the island because of the fear of fires from their glass furnaces and the factories have been there ever since.

This book has a multitude of beautiful photographs of examples of the glass blowers art. We always tend to use the terms glass blowers, although some glass items are pressed into moulds, a cheaper option but one that still gets stunning results.

Who better to write a book on Murano glass than the director of the Murano Glass Museum, who is obviously extremely knowledgeable about Murano glass in particular and the art of glass manufacture in general. There is still a thriving glass industry on the island and to a degree this is unsurprising as several hundred years ago the artisans of the time were banned from setting up in business anywhere else. To do so was to risk death in the night.

This book covers virtually everything there is to know about glass and its manufacture. From the tools the craftsmen themselves use to the different formulas for different types of glass. Right through to the techniques used to achieve the multitude of end products that are available. Many people will have a piece of glass that they know nothing about and in a number of cases that piece of glass will be Murano glass, particularly if it is well designed and colourful.