[stag_toggle style=”normal” title=”Piece details” state=”closed”]CARAVELA, Atelier Salviati,
Venice, 4/4th century 19th century
Glass; mass coloring; free blowing; drawing; modeling; gold spraying
I: 39 cm; DB: 13 cm; L: 23 cm[/stag_toggle]
Near Venice, on the island of Torcello, glass objects dating back to the 7th-8th centuries AD were discovered.
Venice's trade with the East and with countries with a tradition of glassblowing led to an intense practice of this craft, which resulted in a refinement of techniques more than in other areas of Europe. Glassmakers who fled from Byzantium after the conquest of Constantinople also played an important role in the development of the art of glassmaking in Venice.
Murano was a Roman settlement whose inhabitants were engaged in fishing and salt extraction. The island's transformation into a center for glass producers took place in 1291, when the Venetian Republic asked glassmakers to move to the island. One of the reasons was the danger posed by the glass melting furnaces, which had caused numerous fires. The second, and most important, was the fear that, scattered, the glassmakers might reveal the secret of glass processing. Thus was born an exclusive community, organized in the Glassmakers' Corporation. There was fierce competition between its members, all trying to constantly improve their techniques. This perfectionism, coupled with the concern for the purity of the raw materials and the quality of the melted glass, led to the outstanding performances of the Venetian glassmakers.
As part of the Venetian Republic, the island of Murano enjoyed a certain internal autonomy. Not only did it have its own code of laws and its own Supreme Council, but it even had its own currency and an ambassador to Venice.
It is worth noting that when a commoner succeeded in becoming a glassmaker, he was ennobled and inscribed in the Golden Book of the island. The glassmakers of Murano were considered equal to the most noble families in Venice. On the other hand, they were constantly followed by the Venetian police and subjected to a severe law, which prohibited leaving the island and especially the Venetian domains. Some provisions read as follows: "if any worker or glassmaker alienates his art in Venice to the detriment of the Republic, an order will be sent to him to return to the country. If he does not obey this order, his closest people will be thrown into prison, so that he will be forced to return. If he does not abandon his decision to remain abroad, a person will be sent after him with the mission of killing him". [1] This terrible harshness, which went as far as imprisonment and hired assassins, had a serious justification: the price of a Murano glass was gigantic. The loss of such an economic privilege meant a very heavy blow to Venice.
During the second half of the 15th century, in works dealing with Italian production, the terms “crystal”, “Venetian crystal” or “crystalline” were encountered. All these terms designate a single quality glass, clear and light, of great plasticity, which was the only noble glass in Europe until the beginning of the 17th century.
The invention of “crystaline” is due to a family of glassmakers from Murano, named Berovieri. The product, much clearer and “white” (colorless) than other bottles made until then, had already spread in Venice since 1463. It was obtained based on Kali soda, coming from Egypt (sodium carbonate, which provided the glass with sodium oxide) and the famous Tessin stone (source of calcium oxide), in certain proportions, which constituted the great “secret of the Venetians”.
Glassmakers from all over Europe were trying to obtain the precious material. The Lorraine glassmakers went to Venice in 1492 and negotiated an exchange between the secret of “Venetian crystal” and their technique for manufacturing large mirrors and large glass plates for stained glass windows. As a result of this endeavor, Venetian mirrors became famous, and working in the Venetian manner of “crystal” became widespread in France and then throughout Europe. The term “crystal” began to disappear, being replaced by “crystal”, a generic term whose spread led to confusion, especially with what was called “crystal” at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.
The success of Venetian products was so great that glassmakers from Austria, Germany, England, Spain, and France tried to imitate them and worked in the "Venetian style" or "Venice style".
There were also moments of crisis, such as that of 1797 when, due to the disappearance of the Republic of San Marco and the resulting political and social chaos, the glassmaking industry was in danger of collapse. The Venetian style entered into decadence and the popularity of Murano glass was eclipsed by the English and Bohemian model. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that the interest shown by antique dealers and collectors led to a revival of the art of glassmaking in Murano.
In 1859, the mayor of Murano, Antonio Colleoni, together with Antonio Salviati founded the company “Salviati & C”, which became the most important Venetian manufacturer of art glassware. The company achieved resounding success with its mosaic glass products. With the best glassmakers and technicians in the field, the Salviati workshops created an impressive collection of historical and modern pieces, with which they triumphed at international fairs, thus opening their way to world markets. After the death of the company founder, which occurred in 1890, his descendants, Giulio, Silvio and Amalia Salviati, together with Maurizio Camerino managed to maintain their position as world leaders in art glassware, until around the First World War.
As the object of the month, we have chosen a Salviati piece, from the heritage of the Peleș National Museum; it is a caravel-shaped vessel, made of yellowish glass, with gold-sprayed areas and blue-green baguette ornaments, on a high foot, with a handle and icicle. A historical piece, in the Italian Neo-Renaissance style, it is a copy of a miniature silver vessel, given by the French to Emperor Maximilian I.
The shaping of the ship's foot and hull was done by free blowing, while the sail was built from drawn rods, which were then shaped.
The process of shaping glass objects is based on the fact that this material does not have a fixed melting point. In a wide temperature range (700-1500 degrees) it is plastic, and can be shaped by:
Blowing on a pipe, in the open air or in a mold;
drawing into plates, wires, rods, pipes;
rolling;
pressing;
combined procedures
Murano glassmakers were and remain the most skilled blowers. Almost exclusively, the pieces they make are shaped by free blowing or in a mold. The composition of Venetian glass, with its low viscosity, makes it suitable for this process. In addition, along with the shaping by blowing, hot decoration is also done, through processes in which Murano craftsmen excel. In our case, as decoration processes, Venetian glassmakers used working with pliers, applying molded pellets, drawing threads that were glued to the hull of the vessel or spiraled on the snake that surmounts the sail, and spraying with gold.
After shaping and decorating, internal stresses remain in the object, generated by the rapid cooling of the product. If not eliminated, internal stresses can cause the piece to crack and break. These stresses must be relaxed (de-stressed), which is done through a heat treatment called “annealing”.
The special aesthetic values, the exceptional quality of the glass, and the craftsmanship justify the inclusion of this piece in the treasury of national cultural heritage.