Decorative Pair of Circa 1940's, Venetian Aqua Colored Glass Lamps with an handmade parchement shade, stylized with gilt detail and fabric blue trim. H:29" Diameter of shade on the bottom 15.5" the Height of the shade is 10.5". There is a slight chip lower near base on one of the lamps, otherwise in good condition. Murano glass has been a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano for centuries. Located off the shore of Venice, Italy, Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th Century. By the 10th Century it had become a well-known city of trade. Today Murano remains a destination for tourists and art and jewellery lovers alike. Murano’s reputation as a centre for glassmaking was born when the Venetian Republic, fearing fire and destruction to the city’s mostly wood buildings, ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano in 1291. Murano glass is still interwoven with Venetian glass. Murano's glassmakers were soon the island’s most prominent citizens. Murano’s glassmakers held a monopoly on quality glassmaking for centuries, developing or refining many technologies including crystalline glass, enamelled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicoloured glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Today, the artisans of Murano are still employing these century-old techniques, crafting everything from contemporary art glass and glass jewellery to Murano glass chandeliers and wine stoppers. The Museo Vetrario or Glass Museum in the Palazzo Giustinian, which holds displays on the history of glassmaking as well as glass samples ranging from Egyptian times through the present day is located in Murano. Murano Glass was in vogue for export trade and was produced in great quantities in the 1950s and 1960s. The process of making Murano glass is rather complex. The glass is made from silica which becomes liquid at high temperatures. As the glass passes from a liquid to a solid state, there is an interval when the glass is soft before it hardens completely. This is when the glass-master can shape the material. The other raw materials, called flux or melting agents, soften at lower temperatures. The more sodium oxide present in the glass, the slower it solidifies. This is important for hand-working because it allows the glassmaker more time to shape the material. The various raw materials that an artisan might add to a glass mixture are sodium (to make the glass surface opaque), nitrate and arsenic (to eliminate bubbles) and colouring. The most important factor is the coloration of Murano Glass making and techniques and materials vary depending upon the look a glassmaker is trying to achieve. Aquamarine is created through the use of copper and cobalt compounds whereas ruby red uses a gold solution as a colouring agent. The millefiori technique begins with the layering of sliced canes of glass and conterie or tiny glass beads are formed by cutting thin glass canes into sections when cold then rounded when hot. Filigree, incalmo, enamel painted, engraving, gold engraving, lattimo, ribbed glass and submersion are just a few of the other techniques a glassmaker can employ. Another technique of Murano glassmaking are the layering of different colors, which are formed by dipping the object in molten glass; the outermost layer is often clear. Sommerso was first formed in Murano during the late thirties, becoming in vogue in the fifties. This process is a popular technique for vases, and is sometimes used to form sculptures. This is a beautiful example of Venetian Glass Lamps.

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