Vintage Millefiori Glass Paperweight with colors such as, blue, red, yellow, and white.

Vintage Millefiori Glass Paperweight with colors such as, blue, red, yellow, and white.

Italy Venezia

Size: 7 cm H x 7.5 cm diameter

Millefiori, also known as Murrine, is one of the best-known and highly sought after techniques of Murano glass making. It stands for "a thousand flowers" in Italian, and indeed, the end result of this painstaking work often reminds a field of whimsical flowers showing off their beautiful colors. Looking at the amazing Murano glass rings, pendants, vases, and even lamps made in this technique, it is hard to imagine just how Venetian masters can create something like this out of glass. So in this article we'll uncover the secrets of this technique known since antiquity and give you a glimpse of the rich history behind it.

In the sixteenth century some of the Murano glass artisans started attempts to imitate the beautiful ancient glassware created by Romans. They were successful in doing that, but as with many other glassmaking techniques, the secret they uncovered had subsequently been lost again until the interest in these Roman pieces sparked anew in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time Murano glass artists became fascinated with glassware from classic antiquity created by the ancient Romans and exhibited in the famous Murano Glass Museum. Some of the amazing objects that came to us from those times included glass vases, bowls, urns, and plates with flower or abstract patterns spread around the inside and outside surfaces of the objects.