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Murano glass beads

Orecchini con perle in vetro fiorato

The production of pearls, known since ancient times, first in Egypt and then in Roman times derives from glass rods.

The first pearls produced in Venice date back to the fourteenth century and, for centuries, will constitute a precious exchange and export commodity for the Serenissima to Africa, the Americas and India. According to the production technique, Venetian pearls can be of conteria, rosette or lamp. The conteria pearls, documented in Murano since the 14th century, are monochromatic, very small, are obtained "industrially" from thin perforated glass rods and can also be used for embroidering different compositions. Rosetta pearls, invented in the fifteenth century by Marietta Barovier, daughter of Angelo, derive from pierced rods composed, like murrine, of several polychrome layers; the lume pearls, on the other hand, date back to the seventeenth century, they are obtained from an unperforated (massive) barrel, heated with a flame ("lume") and cast on a metal wire held manually in constant rotation, with infinite variations of possible additions, effects and colors .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the nineteenth-century Murano crisis, the production of pearls was the only one to remain flourishing and to expand. A particularly significant genre and deeply connected to the history and traditions of the city, in particular to that of women's work, starting from the creativity of Marietta Barovier and the many Murano women who have always been present in this sector, without forgetting the skilled pearl threaders ( "Impiraresse") from Venice, which for centuries, sitting outdoors in calli and campielli with their box ("sessola") loaded with beads on their knees, have characterized the landscape of a minor Venice, full of life and people.
 

particolare collana vetro fiorato
bracciale perle in vetro con avventurina
particolare di perle eneziane con canne colorate e avventurina
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