The History Of Glass Blowing in Murano

Glass blowing  is one of the oldest art forms. Many examples can be traced back to Syria during the early years of the Roman Empire. The "Museo dell'Arte Vetraria" (Glass Museum) in the "Palazzo Comunale" of Murano records its oldest example of Venetian glass as a bottle blown by a "maestro" in 1090, although several other sources claim glass blowing in Venice can be traced back to 982. The art of glass blowing has changed very little since these ancient examples were created. The glass is still melted over a flame, inside a special pot. Master craftsmen form a "bolus," or "bubble" at the end of their blowing pipe ("canna da soffio" or "blowing straw"). The blow pipe is fabricated from a steel tube whose diameter is different at each end. The glass blower blows into the narrow end and gathers the glass onto the thicker end. Although working the glass involves many steps, often over an extended period of time, it still uses a very basic technique. The glass is mouth blown into the required size and then molded by hand with pincers, scissors and other simple instruments. Often, the glass blower himself has fabricated his instruments. This technique of working the glass with pincers was developed in the sixteenth century.

While other countries concentrated on developing high lead-content glassware (for strength), the Venetian glass blowers took a different  approach and developed their own glass formulations. The special beauty of this Italian glass became a valuable commodity and many fortunes were made from its sale. In 1291, wealthy families in Venice became concerned  that their secrets would be stolen and taken to other countries. They were also worried a major fire in one of the glass factories would destroy Venice and all of its valuable treasures. Thus, glass blowing was banned from Venice and moved to the nearby island of Murano. Glass blowers were not allowed to leave the island. This ensured the security of the glass blowing secrets.

Murano glass is considered to have reached the height of its splendor in the middle of the 16th century. At that time, Murano glass was officially called "Cristallo," since it resembled the very valuable hard stone "rock crystal." Also, with help of formulas originated in the Orient, Murano perfected its famous colored glassware. The colors for which Murano became famous were Cobalt Blue, Emerald Green, and Ruby Red. At this time, the Murano craftsmen  also experimented   with adding tin oxide to the glass, making it resemble the Chinese porcelain of that period.

The key styles and techniques developed during the 16th century are still some of the most prized today, some 400 years later. There are currently about 50 glass blowing companies located on Murano. Many of these companies are small, with just a single team of about five men to work the glass. The total number of workers on the island is approximately two thousand, but glass blowing is still the only industry of Murano. With the number of skilled craftsmen continuing to diminish, the value of their work will only continue to grow.