Vintage Murano hand blown red art glass bowl with gold aventurine, a swirl of bullicante (controlled bubbles) and a clear threaded foot. Crafted by Borovier & Toso, Italy. Gorgeous!
In excellent condition, no chips.
Measures 8 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches
Murano Glass...A Little History (https://www.venetian-glass.info/)
Glassmaking in Murano comes from a common thread in Venetian history - the status of the settlement as a bridge between west and east. And what was probably one of the first glass furnaces on a Venetian island - dating from the 8th century, so archaelogists think - was discovered in the 1960s.
Many sources suggest that glassmaking was concentrated on the island of Murano because of the risk of fire from the furnaces on the more heavily populated areas of Rivo Alto and Dorsoduro. However, it is also highly likely that the industry was easier to control and influence when it was in one particular place.
As with the Arsenale, the Venetian authorities aimed to reward and guard a vital industry by keeping it comfortable within a "gilded cage". Incentives and conditions for workers and employers were strictly regulated by the administrators of the government body controlling the glassmaking industry.
And for a long time workers who left the island were forbidden from ever working again within the industry on Murano - a measure taken to stop the outflow of secrets and skills from the island.
Whatever the reasons for the concentration of glassmakers within such a small area, the effect was a tremendous cross-fertilisation of ideas which led to the leading role of Venetian glass within Europe.
Avventurina is a Murano glass-making technique developed on Murano island in the 17th century. I was first mentioned in a document dating from 1614 as "a kind of stone with gilt stars inside", at which point it already mesmerized people with the unusual and attractive look. The technique owes its name to the fact that its discovery happened by chance thanks to a lucky coincidence, when a glass artisan is said to have accidentally dropped some metal shavings into the glass mixture. Italians say it happened "all'avventura", which in Italian means "by chance".