In 1995, Antica Murrina Venezia began working closely with two famous glass artisans of the island of Murano in Venice . Glass blower Maestro Antonio Tagliapietra and designer Daniela Martini have since been the creative force behind the production of a continuously changing line of Murano glass fashion jewellery, featuring exquisite Murano glass and 925 sterling silver.
The history of Venice as a centre of glassmaking is a particularly rich one. Since the 15th century, all over the world, the name of the island of Murano has been virtually synonymous with the creation of the finest and most elegant glass. The island of Murano itself was a commercial port as far back as the 7th century, but it was in 1291 that it became the centre for Venetian glass making when the Venetian Republic ordered the glass makers to move there to avoid the danger of fire in Venice . It was at this time that glass making expanded dramatically with the sack of Constantinople and the introduction of materials and techniques from the east. The glassmakers became rich and highly respected, but there was one catch; the craftsmen were not allowed to leave the Republic, if a craftsman got a hankering to set up shop beyond the Lagoon, he risked being assassinated or having his hands cut off by the secret police.
Their virtual monopoly on quality glass lasted for centuries, until glassmakers in Northern and Central Europe introduced new techniques and fashions around the same time that colonists were emigrating to the New World .
Antica Murrina Venezia captures these centuries of tradition. Buying a piece of Murano glass jewellery from this famous and long-established brand brings that tradition and history vividly to life, giving you a piece of jewellery that already holds a world of stories, even before you add your own. View Antica Murrina's jewellery here.
