Welcome to the World of Empoli Glass...Viva Italia!
We have fallen in love with the stunning shapes, colours and patterns of Empoli glass. The region of Empoli in the Tuscany region of Italy has been producing and exporting beautiful art glass since the 1500s. We've listed a few resources if you're interested in learning more about this amazing art form.
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(A Brief) History of Empoli Glass "Most collectors and dealers are unaware of another almost equally famous center of Italian glass making known as Empoli. Empoli is a region on the west side of Italy, southwest of Florence in the province of Tuscany. Like its better known counterparts [Murano/Venice] to the northeast, Empoli has been producing and exporting glass since the 14th century. For centuries, green glass was a trademark color of Empoli. The Empoli green, known as “Empoli Verde: was created from the iron that occurred locally in the sands of the Empoli region. Empoli glass is generally much simpler than other Italian glass and does not have the intricately applied trim or internal decorations associated with Venetian and Murano pieces. The simple traditional styles of Empoli glass were quickly adapted to the sparse abstract shapes of mid 20th century modernism. The vast majority of mid century-styled Empoli glass was made for the American market.
It should be kept in mind that Empoli is a region where there were many glass companies, not one specific glass company. The great majority of Empoli glass imported into the United States during the 1950s-1960s was marked only with relatively generic “Made in Italy” paper or foil labels. Over time, many of the original labels have fallen off and the majority of Empoli glass in today’s market is largely unmarked." |
