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By the 13th century, Venice was a glassmaking Mecca. Expanding on the knowledge they learned from Egyptians and Syrians, Venetian artisans fine-tuned the art of cristallo—very nearly transparent glass—in color. The technique fueled the craze for stained glass windows in a brilliant array of shades, and the artform helped to bolster the power of the Venetian Republic. Unsurprisingly, the government soon took a keen interest in the trade.
In 1291, a law required that all glassmakers relocate onto Murano, an isle just over a mile away. The furnaces or fornos used in glassmaking were at constant risk of catching fire, and as Venice was predominantly built of wood, the workshops were sent to cluster together off the main island. Keeping all the glassmakers in a cloister also meant that their secret techniques (recipes of cristallo were highly guarded) would remain that way. The Venetians went so far as to regulate the comings and goings of their Murano glassmakers and, should someone go rogue, an assassin was sent after them. It was an art worth killing for.
Today, the cat’s out of the bag, but a series of artisanal workshops remain on the island of Murano, many using the same medieval hand-blown techniques on hundred-year-old furnaces. On the poky Murano streets that snake with canals, dozens of glassmaking houses are still active, and each operates with a staunch dedication to the craft. Carla Sersale, co-owner of Le Sirenuse and a Murano glass aficionado, can attest to this.
Most recently, Sersale went on a mission to produce a line of Murano drinking glasses for the famed hotel Le Sirenuse. It’s one of the pastel-colored structures dotting the sea-side hill in Positano, and the swirl of color issued by the Murano glassware filling the tables on the terrace each evening only adds to the ambiance of a sunset cocktail. Sersale also sells a selection of Murano glassware at the hotel’s shop, Emporio Sirenuse.
Her desire for drinkware in colors that evoked the purple-pink Positano sunsets led her to historic glassmaker NasonMoretti. “Every workshop will have its own colors. One will have a red that goes slightly towards pink or cherry; another will have a sort of Ferrari red. This factory will make that red and that factory will make this red,” she says. Sersale ended up developing many of her own colors, but explains it’s rare for Murano glassmakers to veer from their playbook. “It’s hard to make a new shape, it takes time and effort, and workshops tend to be suspicious that you might make them lose time.”
Through Sersale’s experience sourcing finery for Emporio Sirenuse (and through her general embodiment of all things chic and Italian), she’s helped us to compile a sort of directory of Murano glassmakers. There’s Giberto Arriavebene, whose utterly divine glasses Sersale deems “very sophisticated pieces...and best for use in the city.” There’s LagunaB, which was recently taken on by the late founder Marie Brandolini’s son Marcantonio, who Sersale calls “an artist himself.” And then there’s Carlo Moretti, who sort of started it all for Sersale. The workshop’s Bora glasses were what first brought Sersale to Murano, and what ignited her interest in the material. “You know,” she tells me, “it has an attraction—the more you see, the more you’ll get addicted to it.”
Everything you need to know to shop (or just appreciate) Murano drinking glasses, below.
Giberto Arrivabene
Giberto Arrivabene grew up in Venice, surrounded by the Giambattista Tiepolo frescoes that decorated the walls of his family home, the Palazzo Papadopoli. He still lives there, on the top floors, with his family—you might be familiar with two of his daughters, Viola and Vera, and their chic slipper line, ViBi Venezia. At the bottom of the palazzo, you’ll find the Aman Venice hotel, where Arrivabene sells the line of glassware that he launched in 2014, when he took his glass connoisseurship to the next level. “They are made by a man from Murano who blows glass with a thousand-year-old technique and engraves them like it used to be done five hundred years ago,” explains Arrivabene of his process. Arrivabene sketches his designs then sends them to nearby artisans to come to life. Look to him for tumblers and carafes that seem to reverberate with elegance and modernity.
Carlo Moretti
Established in Murano, Carlo Moretti was founded by brothers Carlo and Giovanni in 1958. The glassmakers are best known for their Bora Tumblers, which notably dot the tables at Le Sirenuse’s cocktail bar. The Bora collection takes its name from the wind that blows in the Venetian lagoon, and the cups and candy-colored stripes they feature are somewhat askew, as though a gust of wind helped to shape them. Though both brothers have passed away, the company is still in operation, offering the same glassware that earned Carlo Moretti a place in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
NasonMoretti
NasonMoretti (no association with Carlo Moretti) is another historic Murano glassmaker founded by brothers—Antonio, Giuseppe, Vincenzo, and Umberto Nason—in 1923. The latter was the visionary of the bunch, specializing in dual-colored bowls and glasses. The company is now owned and led by a third generation of Nasons, who were clever enough to align NasonMoretti with the fashion industry (note their collaborations with Valentino, Armani, Bottega Veneta, and Hermès). They also work with Le Sirenuse; in 2020, Carla Sersale sought out NasonMoretti to make Emporio Sirenuse’s first-ever line of drinkware.
Salviati
Founded in 1859 by a Venetian lawyer named Antonio Salviati, the glass manufacturer has been one of the premier workshops in Murano ever since, based for the last 60 years at Fondamenta Radi 16. Like many Murano glassmakers, Salviati produces far more than drinkware; there’s also lighting, vases, and other decorative objects. Salviati was the glassmaker of choice for JJ Martin, who looked to the historic house to help her produce tabletop for La DoubleJ. The collection included intricate tippetti goblets that blossom with glass flowers as delicate as lace, and rainbow-colored stemware meant to be mixed and matched.
LagunaB
LagunaB is unofficially considered fashion’s favorite Murano glass purveyor. Here at the Vogue offices, guests offered water might very well get it in a LagunaB glass that swirls with psychedelic Murrine polka-dots. Founded in 1996 by Marie Brandolini, the Murano glass atelier caught fire in the design world and in a certain echelon of society, and after her sudden passing, Brandolini’s son Marcantonio began helming the company. Most known for drinkware squiggling with color and Murrine details, LagunaB also makes a lovely striped pattern. Plus, there are exclusives with some of our favorite retailers; for Casa Cabana, there’s a lovely pattern that evokes marbelized paper, and for Land of Belle, there’s a delightful range of glasses speckled with tiny daisies.
Stories of Italy
New to the scene is Stories of Italy, a four-year-old company founded by Matilde Antonacci and Dario Buratto. The pair met while studying at Polimoda, the fashion institute in Florence, and between the two of them, they’ve cut their teeth at Helmut Lang, Acne Studios, and Costume National. In 2016, Antonacci and Buratto decided to shift their attention to Murano glass, which proved a wise transition: Today, the young label has already collaborated with the Four Seasons Hotel, Diptyque, and Vivienne Westwood. Stories of Italy is known for its speckled glass—a technique that looks like splatterware and even sometimes like terrazzo flooring.
