| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-06-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 376 pages | | Height: | 13.3 in | | Width: | 10.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 93.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
This book presents 290 masterpieces of art glass from the most famous and admired of the Venetian glassmakers working in Murano in the 20th century. The pieces come from the archives of the Murano firms, museums and private collections all over the world. Each piece is fully illustrated in stunning color photographs supplemented with numerous detail shots and original design drawings. Detailed descriptions of each work provide a wealth of information on the diverse glass techniques and technical refinements achieved by the individual artists and manufacturers. Covered in depth are 17 of the most important (both technically and artistically) glass producers in Murano over the 60 year period from 1910-1970, the renaissance of Venetian glass artistry.
Industry Reviews
Glass in all its forms is the essential theme of these two works: both offer an opportunity to enjoy the endless shapes this basic element can take, and both give commercial and personal histories, but the end results are quite different. Written by a scholar and specialist and produced by the reliable Antiques Collectors' Club, Orrefors Glass describes a single firm over almost a century of production. It traces Orrefors from its origin as a means of utilizing excess timber to its current international renown, supplies biographical information on designers, identifies marks and signatures, and offers a short section on techniques. As a useful reference work on a specific topic, this volume should be part of any library serving the collecting public. The second book is a more elaborate study of the multiple firms producing glass on the famed Ventian island of Murano. It has much to commend it but is seriously flawed as a reference work. The dust jacket promises more than the book provides, and the contents frequently fall short of what the reader might reasonably expect. The indexes of model numbers are very useful but are not provided for all the firms; nor are they all as detailed or as precise as predicted. While this may be the result of poor record-keeping by a particular firm, it is disappointing to the reader. The biographies of the artists/designers are quite useful, and perhaps the best section is that on labels, trademarks, and signatures. However, the index and notes are not easily navigable; although illustrations of works by Calder, Cocteau, Sottsass, etc., are promised, the index cannot locate them. It is unfortunate that the flaws in this volume keep it from being the excellent work it could and should have been, but it is valuable for its elegant illustrations, its scholarship, and its details of the techniques and methods of the art of glass-making. [The publisher promises a revised edition of Art Glass from Murano by early next year. ...
Breitman
Glass in all its forms is the essential theme of these two works: both offer an opportunity to enjoy the endless shapes this basic element can take, and both give commercial and personal histories, but the end results are quite different. Written by a scholar and specialist and produced by the reliable Antiques Collectors' Club, Orrefors Glass describes a single firm over almost a century of production. It traces Orrefors from its origin as a means of utilizing excess timber to its current international renown, supplies biographical information on designers, identifies marks and signatures, and offers a short section on techniques. As a useful reference work on a specific topic, this volume should be part of any library serving the collecting public. The second book is a more elaborate study of the multiple firms producing glass on the famed Ventian island of Murano. It has much to commend it but is seriously flawed as a reference work. The dust jacket promises more than the book provides, and the contents frequently fall short of what the reader might reasonably expect. The indexes of model numbers are very useful but are not provided for all the firms; nor are they all as detailed or as precise as predicted. While this may be the result of poor record-keeping by a particular firm, it is disappointing to the reader. The biographies of the artists/designers are quite useful, and perhaps the best section is that on labels, trademarks, and signatures. However, the index and notes are not easily navigable; although illustrations of works by Calder, Cocteau, Sottsass, etc., are promised, the index cannot locate them. It is unfortunate that the flaws in this volume keep it from being the excellent work it could and should have been, but it is valuable for its elegant illustrations, its scholarship, and its details of the techniques and methods of the art of glass-making. [The publisher promises a revised edition of Art Glass from Murano by early next year. Ed.] Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
Library Journal (05/01/1996)
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