The herald., 1896-05-31
MURANO'S CLEVER GLASSWORK.
ERS.
Beautiful Creations in the Fragile Ma.
teral Produced

Beautiful Creations in the Fragile Ma.
terial Produced.
Among the lagoons. nearly due north
of Venice, in the island Of Murano, there
live n race of men who seem to have
great future. They are the descendants
OF the old Venetian glassworkers, and Of
late years they have been reviving the
ancient art. which made Murano famous
In 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 it its true beauty and value
Tor art purposes, and though you may
neglect these and force it to take forms
utterly foreign to its nature you are pro-
duclnG not works of art, but monstrosi-
ties. Whatever glass; may be, 1t Is in its
natural state not crystalline, so that na-
tllre Is outraged when we grind 1t into
sharp, angular forms that belong rather
to other materials. The old Venetian
glass was light, bright vitreous in an.
pearance, and stained with the richest
possible coors, and all these qualities are
retained in the newly revived manufac-
turc Mt Murano. There is one more
strong pons in favor of glass blown and
worked over than molded-nanely, that
every individual piece is an original
work OF human art, and as it is almost
impossible that any two should be OK.
actly alike. unless their form is very
simple indeed. the buyer chooses Accord
ing to his fancy and is sure that no one
else possesses a piece of exactly the
same size and shape In the manufac.
mr. pta ,f,,;,,
(red leld) ii frequently added to Increase
lt9 BRIGHTNESS, but this destroys at once
the clara cteristc llghtness, and, causing
it to cool more rapidly, quite prevents
the possibility of working it in the pro.
pc. ductl1 and malleabla condition. The
Murano material is worked as the an.
Gent Venetian glass made on the same
island used to be, and all the old meth
cd; have been discovered, or at least tho
same effects have been produced. The
hamma, perhaps more strange than beau,
tlfU1, the millefiore. the snaeltze, includ.
ing perfect limitations Of agates chalce.
don,. lapls luZuli, ETC., for mosaic, the
acua marina, rich ruby colors, the bril-.
liant avventurina. al! arc here, and many
other kinds of work, some Of which are
imitationa OF the old glass and some new
inventions.
The tools used are a hollow reed of
Iron. few Instruments like shears of diff
ferent sizes and stamp with straw
| berry-shaped die. The end Of the rod ID
dipped into molten glass of, say, ruby
cclo', and o portion accumulated on its
end. If too much or too little is taken
the wine glass will not be of the right
size, and if the metal, as it is called, ii
not of the right temperature the color
will he too dark or too light. The lump
is rolled on table into symmetry and
heated again. A few turns Of the rod
and a breath or two through it and a
hollow ball appears at the end. One ex-
ira puff of the breath and the bowl
would be too large and too thin. A boy
brings up a small portion of white glass,
which he has picked out Of another reser-
voir and blown hollow. This must be
so hot as almost to drop off the rod and
must be ready at the exact moment. He
touches the bowl with 1t and the two ad-
here like sealing-wax. A pull asunder
and one deXterous twist form the delicate
stem Of tho wine glass upon which three
little humps of glass are then stuck and
stamped as Strawberries, and the whole
III again introduced into the furnace.
where ii would instantly droop out Of
shape but for the deft manipulation
which it undergoes By the time 1t is
heated the boy is ready with another
globe of glass, perhaps Of different coll
OF, which he causes to adhere to the bot
| tom of the stem. The man spins 10
around between his shears, nipping part
of it almost off, and thus gaining the
right quantity of metal for the foot, no
! less and 10 more. One tap on an iron
! ledge breaks off the superfiuous piece
and leaves Il small hole at the point of
fracture. Once more the action of the
fire is called into soften the brittle ma
terlal, and when the pear-shaped end
Gomez on: the points OF the closed shears
arc introduced to widen the opening into
a cup-like form. A small lump Of av-
venturino is by this time on the end of
the boys rod melted and only saved
from dropping by his dexterity. One
touch and it adheres to the end Of the
cup jus. formed. He pulls it out and
winds it around, adhering as it goes to
the edge. Again the fire does its duty,
and then the artist finishes the form Of
the foot, detachinG immediately the bulb
at the top from his hollow rod Another
rod with & molten piece of glass, Is pre-
pared for him by the boys ready co
operation, and il pressed against the CEN
te, o. III. foot. to which it adheres Into
the fire goes the whole piece, and when
Withdrawn the bowl OF the glass is partly
shaped by tn. shears. avventurino wound
around the edge rs before with the foot,
= last heat, and with artistic care the
delicate, crocus-lllc bowl which is some
day tn contain the sparkling wine, is COM
plctcd.