When we buy in, we distinguish between Murano and "Italian glass". It's not that the other is bad — most Italian vintage glass is beautiful, and some of it is genuinely underrated. But there are differences, and they affect price, rarity and sometimes quality.
Murano (Veneto)
The small island just off Venice. The glassworks moved there in 1291 to keep fire risk away from Venice itself. Today Murano is still synonymous with craftsmanship at the highest level. Mouth-blown, often more than one layer, often signed. It's the most expensive Italian glass — because it's the most complex to make.
Empoli (Tuscany)
Empoli is outside Florence and in the 60s-70s was one of Italy's largest centres for coloured glass — especially the famous "verde Empoli", the deep bottle green. Empoli glass is typically machine-pressed or semi-automatic, not mouth-blown. It's beautiful, affordable, and deserves more love than it gets. If you find a green vase or carafe at a flea market — it's probably Empoli.
Cenedese (technically Murano)
The Cenedese workshop is on Murano but is often listed separately because it specialised in sommerso. They made some of the heaviest, most dramatic sommerso pieces of the 50s-60s.
Industrial Italian glassworks
Bormioli, Luminarc (partly French), Arcoroc — this is factory glass, not craft. Italian vintage too, also beautiful, but a completely different category. We carry some of it for drinking glasses and everyday use.
How we tell them apart
Murano: heavier, often uneven in thickness, has a pontil mark, has depth in the colours. Other Italian: lighter, more uniform, often with a mould seam, colours more "flat".
Both have their place. We sell both. But when we say Murano, we mean Murano.
