By: Kris Mink
A beautiful and long history is characteristic of Italian glassware. Legend says that glassmaking started in Italy in the pre-Roman period when unnamed sailors built a intense fire on the beach and discovered that the very hot sand formed glass. Venice may have been at the epicenter of Italian glassware manufacture since 450 AD.
During the period of Constantine, Italian glassware was a flourishing guild with professional conduct standards and training via guided teachings. The formulation of particular Italian glassware manufacturing methods, such as filigrana, gilding, and enameling had also already taken place. Dads conveyed to their sons the techniques and glass recipes in the form of family cookbooks. The formulas have been added to and fine-tuned for for a long time.
The making of glass was a healthy industry in Italy throughout Constantine's time. In the late 13th century, a law mas made forbidding the formation of new glasshouses inside the city limits due to the numerous fires caused by glasshouses. The law caused the glassware industry to relocate to Murano, an island close to Venice, where glassmaking is still doing very well today.
New manufacturers started to enter the fray after the industry had been ruled by Italian glassware manufacturing throughout the Renaissance period and well into the seventeenth century. The clarity, color, delicacy, and beauty of Italian glassware was as much appreciated and celebrated during those times as it is today.
Modern Italian Glassware
The marvel and glitter of Venetian glassware from Murano is still highly sought after and Murano still remains the epicenter of Italian glassware making. Even though a collection of functional pieces are manufactured in Murano, the main focus is for decoration oriented glassware. Any glassware could have a practical use, but it's hard to rationalize putting pop into glasses that cost more than one hundred dollars per glass. They're art objects, not dinnerware.
Italian glassware is art, and the glasses and ornamental pieces are all outstanding. Every piece is hand-blown, which makes every item one of a kind and gives it perfect colors with fragile and fantastic features. Italian glassblowers will never be described as artisans but will forever be known as extremely accomplished artists.
Glassware serving as pure art is a comparatively recent development, and Murano is slap bang in the center of the development. The American glass artist Dale Chihuly learned most of his art in the Italian glasshouse of Venini Fabrica. Venice boasts a collection of glass chandeliers that were made by Chihuly in collaboration with Murano glass maker Line Tagliapetra.
Modern Italian glassware remains as beautiful and valued as it was during the Renaissance. To this day it still determines the standard for modern day glassware as well as the standard for fragility and quality in glass art. The wonderful epicenter of glassmaking, namely Murano, is to this day a location that attracts numerous glass artists for a chance to learn from the leaders in the industry.
Article Directory: http://www.articlecube.com
Written by Kris Mink. At www.glasswareinfo.com you can get glassware help, as well as advice for 22 oz glassware.
