Bottle thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Glass, Room 131

Bottle

16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

‘Millefiori’ glass, or glass of a thousand flowers, shows small multicoloured glass patches on a colourless background. It is made using prepared multicoloured glass 'canes'. These canes are cut into small sections that are scattered in a random manner on a smooth metal or stone surface. The glassmaker then prepares a bubble of colourless glass from the furnace, and rolls this over the colourful cane sections. These stick to the molten glass surface and can be 'marvered' smoothly into the glass surface by rolling it over a flat, clean surface and repeatedly reheating the bubble in the furnace mouth. Finally, the bubble can be further expanded by blowing and shaping into a hollow object.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Millefiori glass
Brief description
Bottle, blown millefiori glass, probably Italy (Venice), 1500-25
Dimensions
  • Height: 9.5cm
Styles
Production
According to Prof. Giovanni Sarpellon of Murano, mid 19th century Theuerkauff-Liederwald 14-10-96: OK, greyish tint very similar to Coburg piece.
Summary
‘Millefiori’ glass, or glass of a thousand flowers, shows small multicoloured glass patches on a colourless background. It is made using prepared multicoloured glass 'canes'. These canes are cut into small sections that are scattered in a random manner on a smooth metal or stone surface. The glassmaker then prepares a bubble of colourless glass from the furnace, and rolls this over the colourful cane sections. These stick to the molten glass surface and can be 'marvered' smoothly into the glass surface by rolling it over a flat, clean surface and repeatedly reheating the bubble in the furnace mouth. Finally, the bubble can be further expanded by blowing and shaping into a hollow object.
Bibliographic reference
A.-E. Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Venezianisches Glas der Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Lingen 1994, cat. 1, pp. 62-63, for a mounted decorative shere made with similar millefiori canes.
Other number
8430 - Glass gallery number
Collection
Accession number
5518-1859

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Record createdDecember 13, 1997
Record URL
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