We took a water taxi out to the island of Murano. We were led to a glass demonstration. They melted the silica into molten glass all night long. The silica is imported from France while the fuel for the furnace was methane gas from Russia. It is hard to understand how this industry got its start in Venice. Venice has no natural resources!
The explanation provided was that sodium bicarbonate was available from the Byzantine empire. Venice played a critical role in trade with the Byzantines. This purportedly put them in a position to gain access to all the supplies they needed. Still, how did it start?
We saw them roll the liquid glass into the colored metal oxides. These added color to the outside of the glass, to get uniform color, oxides are mixed into the silica before melting, the night before.
It is difficult to match the color of any given batch, so they need to mix enough glass to finish the project.
Red : Cesium oxide
Green : Copper
Blue : Cobalt
Amethyst : ?
After building a simple figure, the craftsman placed a piece of paper on it and it burst into flames, showing how hot it was. If it were a sellable work, it would be placed into a furnace to anneal over night. Slow cooling enables relief of the stress in the glass, producing a stronger piece if glass.
We visited over 12 rooms of objects d'art. Oscar, our guide, was happy to discuss the art, history, and technology. Of course he wanted to sell us a piece. This was just the classic "sales dance"; offering information, a friendship, in hopes of establishing the foundation for a profitable sale.
Oscar told us that the Venetians had created very strong glasses. Other Europeans add lead to glass to improve the strength - hence leaded crystal. This became so popular that eventually the Venetians had to offer leaded crystal too. RoHS requirements in the EU have resulted in all lead being removed from glasses.
My favorite pieces were the vase and the cuttlefish.
The vase is made with a series of canes. A cane is a rolled cylinder of colored glass. It is similar to the preform used in fiber optics as well as the canes made from fimo dough. The canes are sliced like bologna, laid adjacent to each other, and fused onto clear plate glass. This flat piece is then heated and folded into a vase.
The cuttlefish is made with a layered process that was not described in detail.
It was interesting to see the uniformity of pricing. Objects were 1000 to 10000 Euro. Whether it was a vase, chandelier, or work of art, they were all roughly the same price. Of course, every price was negotiable. Within minutes, the pieces that had caught my eye were reduced from 3000 to 2000 Euro.
The sales team pushed hard. They let me take a picture and call my wife. However, with my youngest son not feeling so well, we were not going to buy it on the spot.
My three other children and I went on to walk the rest of the island. We put our heads into many shops. Finally, we purchased a couple of ink pens with metal nibs (seemed more practical than the classic Venetian glass nibs) and a wine cork. Let's hope they survive the trip!
On our way back, we stopped at a cafe and picked up a spinach and cheese focaccia, with dough rolled in seeds, and a ham (bologna) and cheese pannini. The ham and cheese was a big hit!
We saw a small crab on the pylons coming up from the water. My number two son was very excited. I could not tell if he was excited because he likes to eat crab or just because he is a naturalist.
Eventually we found our way back to the glass factory and to the dock. Twenty minutes later we were headed to Piazza San Marco.
