|
|
Post by rockhoundingwithkids on Mar 19, 2023 16:05:02 GMT -5
If there's an expert in Millefiori glass in the group - I need your enlightenment! Google was very little help in the subject. So I had never known about this material until I saw insta - rockhoundgaryb do a bunch of cabs with Millefiori glass and I thought "oh that's cool..." Well we went to the local rock and mineral show and saw and bought some slabs (just thinking well now my eye was trained to see it...) and of course Zack went over to buy it while I wrangled kids and didn't ask any questions. Zack really enjoyed working on it. Now I'm seeing lots of slabs on instagram from some of my favorite rock people. Now I'm guessing there's just a lot of this glass on the market probably from China? I understand Murano glass is specifically Italian. This was not advertised as such. From what I read it's quite a process to make and I suppose the entire reason I'm even going down this rabbit hole is in the hopes of learning if the process is ethical or not. I'd prefer to not buy or sell any more if it isn't.  |
|
|
|
Post by MsAli on Mar 19, 2023 17:10:28 GMT -5
Not entirely sure what you are asking but as a glass collector IMO most Millefiori "slabs" are being produced in China.
Murano Millefiori is usually used in vases, paperweights, lampshades and other what I consider works of art.
They do not as far as I know make just billets.
|
|
|
|
Post by MsAli on Mar 19, 2023 17:13:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by MsAli on Mar 19, 2023 17:16:52 GMT -5
The quality of the Millefiori in a Murano piece   |
|
|
|
Post by manofglass on Mar 19, 2023 17:24:41 GMT -5
|
|
rockbrain
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,133
|
Post by rockbrain on Mar 20, 2023 9:12:37 GMT -5
If there's an expert in Millefiori glass in the group - I need your enlightenment! Google was very little help in the subject. So I had never known about this material until I saw insta - rockhoundgaryb do a bunch of cabs with Millefiori glass and I thought "oh that's cool..." Well we went to the local rock and mineral show and saw and bought some slabs (just thinking well now my eye was trained to see it...) and of course Zack went over to buy it while I wrangled kids and didn't ask any questions. Zack really enjoyed working on it. Now I'm seeing lots of slabs on instagram from some of my favorite rock people. Now I'm guessing there's just a lot of this glass on the market probably from China? I understand Murano glass is specifically Italian. This was not advertised as such. From what I read it's quite a process to make and I suppose the entire reason I'm even going down this rabbit hole is in the hopes of learning if the process is ethical or not. I'd prefer to not buy or sell any more if it isn't. I don't know about the ethicalness of the product but I don't think anyone would mistake it for real Millefiori. I think it's being used more as a generic term. I bought some of the same glass from the same sale. (I'm assuming it was the folks in the corner with all the slabs for sale) She sold it to me as a Chinese imitation. |
|
|
|
Post by rockhoundingwithkids on Apr 16, 2023 13:19:19 GMT -5
Thank you for all the insight! I knew it wasn't the real deal but I think as a Chinese imitation it needs another name like "child-labor-camp-glass" or such...  |
|
docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 716
|
Post by docharber on Apr 17, 2023 22:49:02 GMT -5
It is the real deal. It's just made in China. I love millefioti ("thousand flowers"). I've seen it made from solid sheets of slices from canes which are arranged and fused together, but more commonly they are picked up by rolling a gather (gob of molten glass) on a blowppipe over them, fusing the millefiori cane slices to the gather, and melting it partially. The whole thing can be rolled and molded into shape, then blown as for cased glass. Occasionally you'll see old lampshades made this way. Sheets of arranged and fused canes can be embedded in clear glass for paperweights, drawer pulls, etc. and small paperweight like buttons can be made into earrings or other jewelry. My wife has a pair of earrings made this way from the Caithness factory in King's Lynn, England. If anyone lives near or is travelling near Tacoma, Washington, I encourage you to visit the glass museum there. They have an amphitheater where glass artists demonstrate glassblowing techniques with furnaces and blowpipes and other paraphernalia like they use on the show "Blown Away". Way cool.
|
|
