The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-08-12
VENETIAN GLASS.
AN ANCIENT INDUSTRY REVIVED IN
THE ISLAND OF MURANO



the Old Venetian Glassworkers Make
Beautiful Articles of Use and Ornament.
Among the lagoons, nearly due north
of Venice. in the island OF Murano
there lives race of men who seem TO
have great future. They are the de-
scendants of the old Venetian glass
workers, and Of late years they have
been reviving the ancient art, which
made Murano famous III the past, of
glassblowing.
The old Venetian glass was what is
commonly called blown. but the name
gives very small idea Of the manufac.
ture. Glass has certain characteristics
which give il its true beauty and value
for art purposes, and though you may
neglect these and force il 70 make forms
utterly foreign 10 its nature you are
producing not works Of art but mon
strosities Whatever glass may be, IL
| is in its natural state not crystalline, so
| that nature is outraged when we grind
| il into sharp angular forms that belong
rather to other materials The old Vene-
tian glass was light, bright, vitreous IN
| appearance and stained with the richest
possible colors. and all these qualities
are retained in the newly revived man
ufacture at Murano.
There is one more strong point in ia
vor of glass blown and worked over
than molded-namely, that every indi-
| yidual piece is an original art, and as
it is almost impossible that any two
| should be exactly alike, unless their
| form is very simple indeed, the buyer
chooses according to his fancy and Is
sure that no one else possesses a piece
exactly the same size and shape. In the
| manufacture of the ordinary cut glass
| minium (red lead) is frequently add
| ed TO increase its brightness. but this
| destroys at once the characteristic light
ness. and, causing it to cool more rapid
| ly, quite prevents the possibility Of
| working it in the proper ductile and
malleable condition.
The Murano material is worked as
the ancient Venetian glass made on the
same island used TO be, and all the old
methods have been discovered, or at
least the same effects have been pro
duced The hamma, perhaps more
|
the smelze, including perfect limitations
of agates. chalcedons. lapis lazuli etc.
for mosaic, the aqua marina, rich ruby
| colors, the brilliant avventurinO, all are
here. and many other kinds of work,
some of which are limitations of the old
glass and some new inventions
The tools used are hollow reed of
| iron. n few instruments like shears, OF
| different sizes. and stamp with q
strawberry shaped die The end of the
rod is dipped into molten glass of, say,
ruby color, and portion accumulated
ON its end. If too much or too little Is
taken, the wineglass will not be OF the
right size and if the metal, as il is call
ed, is not of the right temperature. the
| color will be too dark or too light The
| lump is rolled ON a table into symmetry
| and heated again. A few turns of the
rod and breath or two through 1t, and
hollow ball appears at the end. One
extra puff of the breath and the bow
would he too large and too thin. A boy
brings up small portion Of white glass.
which he has picked out of another res
ervoir and blown hollow. This must be
so hot as almost TO drop off the rod, and
must be ready at the exact moment. lie
touches the bowl with it. and the two
adhere like sealing wax. A pull asun-
der and one dextrous twist form the
delicate stem of the wineglass upon
} which three little Jumps of glass are
then stuck and stamped as strawberIles
} and the whole is again introduced int
, the furnace, where il would instantly
} droop out of shape but for the deft ma
} nipulation which it undergoes.
, Bv the time it is heated the boy is
ready with another globe of glass. per
! haps of different color, which he
causes 10 adhere to the bottom of tn,
stem. The man spins it around between
! his shears, nipping part OF II almost on
: and thus gaining the right quantity oi
| metal for the foot, no less and no more
One tap on an iron ledge breaks the su
; | pcrfiuous piece, and leaves "A small hol'
Q at the point Of the fracture. Once mor'
, | the action of the fire is called IN to soft
en- the brittle material. and when TIN
l pear shaped ends come out the points o
the closed shears are introduced &
widen the opening into a cupllke form
A small lump of avventurino is b!
this time on the end Of the boys rod
melted and only saved from dropping
) by his dexterity. One touch and 1t ad
heres TO the end Of the cup just formed
He puts il out and winds it around, ad
herring as il goes to the edge. Again tn
/ fire does its duty, and then the artis
finishes the form of the foot. detachinl
! Immediately the bulb at the top fron
, his hollow rod. Another rod. with
4 molten piece of glass. is prepared 10
{ him by the boys ready cooperation
I and is pressed against the center of tn
X foot. To which il adhercs. Into the III
Il goes the whole piece, and when will
: drawn the bowl of the glass Is partl
u shaped by the shears, avventurino woun
j around the edge as before with the fco
J. A last heat, and with artistic care II
d delicate crocuslike bowl, which is sen
o dag 10 contain the sparkling wine
e completed London Globe.
n -
N The Minuteness of spores
,e Exarv ,,lant In the vcUCtahlp EingGC