Murano Glass
Murano glass
Murano glass - material distinguished and even a cult. What did not produced talented masters! Beads, cups and vases, dishes and glasses, and later - mirrors and decorated with garlands of glass chandeliers. All this struck by the amazing subtlety and virtuosity of technique, a variety of colors and techniques of jewelry products.
The history of Venetian glass is quite different from an artless tale of intricate national fisheries. Rather, it is full of passion drama, mixed with single-handed, creative self-love, on the insistence of the Venetians in whatever was to achieve a monopoly in the European glass production. First off their creations Venetian glassblowers yavili world nearly a thousand years ago. During the long ten centuries of existence of glassmaking in Venice experienced a fast evolution, loud glory, dark oblivion, and a bright new bloom …
And it all began for the blank walls of the monastery, where Benedictine monks a thousand years ago decided to make glass bottles of its famous liqueur. Their experiments on the melting of glass, rich in secrets of runaway Byzantine glassmakers, led to an unprecedented flourishing of crafts. Shelters glassmakers, Venice made the right decision. Products Venetian masters valued its weight in gold, and brought considerable income to the treasury.
First, workshops were in Venice itself, but because the city had a lot of wooden buildings, then all production related to the fire, constantly threatening to fire him. Therefore, in the XIII century, the government decided to move a glass workshop in a separate island - Murano. Since then, the Venetian glassmaking is inextricably linked with the island, and called Murano glass.
History is full of wonderful glass of drama. Venetian rulers with no one wanted to share the profits and imposed a monopoly on its production. In Europe, found a lot of hunters secrets. Masters of Murano lured to other countries, promising high wages. In Venice, for divulging the secret of its production relied death penalty, many masters who managed to escape from the island to other countries, is mysteriously killed on the road, taking with him to the grave the secrets of the craft.
The end of this “deadly” competition came to an edition of the book “The Art of Glass”, which fully describes the technology of its production. Now and throughout Europe became possible to produce products in the Venetian manner. Further history revealed that for the production of unique beauty product knowledge alone is not enough. Many know the notes, but only elected compose music. In the sculptures, vessels and platters, vases and goblets, lamps and table items, in elegant specimens of small plastic - beads and pins, so beloved by tourists all over the world, clearly show through the centuries-old artistic tradition, honed by many generations of craftsmanship, individual author’s handwriting.
Why do so prized Murano glass in ancient times and is valued in our time? Unique products is their unusual mode of production. Modern technology of glass manufacture in a simplified form as follows: fused silica sand poured on a layer of tin mirror smooth. The entire process from beginning to end is automated and takes place in a specially created conditions. The end result - perfectly smooth, familiar to our sight glass.
Murano glass, despite the development of technologies that are made exclusively by hand. Breathing - this is the component that animates it and gives a feeling of airiness and lightness. Master armed with an iron pipe, a third-covered tree (that do not burn) and equipped with a mouthpiece at one end, and on the other - pear-shaped thickening for scoring glass. Heated in the fire vyduvalnoy end of the tube dipped into the molten glass mass, which is easy to stick to the tube, forming a hot room. Quickly removing the tube from the furnace, the wizard immediately begins to blow into it at the opposite end. In a glass coma formed a hollow space, increases as the air blown into it … In this way produced any thing: and fine glassware, and large plate-glass windows. For two thousand years of iron pipe glassmakers have been no changes and has not been any improvements. Perhaps because so attractive, so emotional Murano creations of artists that each piece - trace the living human respiration. Hence the uniqueness and originality of the surface and shape of each product, and, moreover, a great variety of colors and techniques of glass decoration.
Slava murantsam brought, primarily glass twist (filigree). When finishing a glass vityu on product circumferential thin white threads of opal glass. Twisted helical filaments are infinitely varied plexus. Featured products and technology Murano millefiori (thousand flowers), where small plates, depicting the colorful flower zaplavlyalis in the outer surface of the glass. Production of this extraordinarily beautiful glass has been shrouded in mystery.
For manufacture of colored glass used oxide-ferrous metals. Green gives iron oxide, green or red tones - copper oxide. The blue color is obtained using cobalt, ruby hue gives a mixture of gold. Transparent Venetian glass, the famous cristallo, striking crystal iridescent play of light and a special ease. With tin oxide are opaque white milk glass shade. A wide variety of color and pattern characteristic of glass, agate, composed of variously situated and differently colored layers.
At the beginning of XVII century masters of the genus Miotti invented the glass on the polished surface of which twinkled innumerable bright points, producing either incomparable light effect. This glass became known as avanturine. It is obtained by adding to the glass mass copper, which crystallizes on cooling the glass. Emphasis is placed on products, decorated with a pattern, which is called “krakelazh. And make it like this: blown object, inside which is supported by a high temperature, immersed in cold water, from which the outer layer of glass is covered with fine cracks. The cracks remain on the surface, decorating products peculiar pattern.
Great impression vase, made in the technique of “pulegozo. If you load a red-hot glass in water and then immediately return it to the oven, inside the air bubbles formed. It seems that the rigid glass miraculously “boiled”.
The earliest extant products belong to the middle of the XV century. At this time we have very stable form of artistic glass vessels that have become standard for many generations of masters of Murano: large capacity bowls and dishes, standing on strong legs; ovoid jugs with a short neck and high, gracefully curved handle and receptacles for beverages that resemble Late cups, glasses having the form of a conical funnel at the lower leg. All this was manufactured in Murano in huge quantities. Objects made of transparent colorless glass as well as colored glassware, decorated usually tipped colorless or colored parts: sockets, masks, bulges in the form of drops and bubbles; edge of vessels were made wavy and distorted. Often, the role of bizarre and at the same time functional jewelry comply bird and animal tails, paws, wings and scallops …
In the XVI century the glory of Murano glass has become truly global. Products medieval craftsmen achieved incredible subtlety, sometimes confusing its weightlessness, and the mass of glass struck by the purity and transparency. In Russia, products from Murano glass appeared in pre-Petrine times. Glass containers and mirrors were in Russia in a big honor.
Today, like many years ago, on the island of Murano open new factories and workshops. There are many factories producing inexpensive souvenir little things that often are brought to us under the guise of exclusive Murano glass and are sold at insane prices. To avoid becoming a victim of fraud, you need to know that the exclusive glass is made only a few plants of the island (FORMIA, SEGUSO VIRO, etc.). All of Murano masters signed, numbered and supplied with a certificate. Prices for such items have no limit.
The sun and the sea brought the gift of Venetian glass, its brightness, brilliance, variable and unique shades. It carries a perpetual holiday atmosphere and is always a desirable acquisition for connoisseurs and collectors. In the modern interior design objects made by sorcerers of Murano, look messengers distant times, bringing to us the mysteries and charm of the past.