Millefiori - the ancient technology of Murano glass

Millefiori is one of the most famous and valuable techniques in the production of Murmansk glass. The word translated from Italian means "thousands of flowers." And it is the best way to characterize the peculiarity of technology.

The technology is the creation of glass twigs (by blowing and stretching) with a multi-colored pattern, which is visible in all its glory on the cut. The finished result looks like a multi-layered carpet woven from bright colors. Products created using this technique have been highly valued for centuries and were considered real jewels.

This kind of mosaic glass with decorative patterns was first seen by the world more than 2 thousand years ago in ancient Egypt. The ancient masters of Greece and Rome improved the technique. Some samples of craftsmen (dishes and decorations) have survived to this day. For several centuries, the methods of making this type of glass were lost. The technique returned from oblivion in the 19th century. The Italian master Moretti, after many experiments, recreated copies of the dishes that were discovered in Pompeii. Chinese, Japanese and Indian masters mastered millefiori only in the second half of the 20th century.

The most difficult and responsible stage in the manufacture of art glass is the creation of "murrini". These miniature cylinders are obtained by cutting a long rod of glass, inside of which is an ornament (most often a star or flower).


Professionals in creating millefiori use 2 main ways to create a cylinder: step-by-step casting of a pattern using molds and baking an ornament from thin twigs into one whole.
In the first method, the glass base is formed step by step, starting with the accent color, which becomes the middle of the composition. To do this, the glass is melted and then strung on a thin metal rod. After the workpiece has cooled down, the craftsmen place it in a mold, where it takes the necessary shape. This procedure is repeated until the laminated glass acquires the desired ornament on the cut.

In the second method, craftsmen assemble a thick "knit" from many multi-colored small twigs. Then it melts until the individual elements merge into a continuous mass. This process is more complicated than the first one. But the result exceeds all expectations. It is this method that craftsmen use to make products with complex patterns (figures of animals and people, inscriptions, etc.).

With any of the above techniques, the final step is to stretch the heated product. At the moment of transformation of a thick cylinder into a graceful rod, a reduced copy of the original drawing appears. Only professionals have such a unique skill, because the process is very time-consuming and painstaking.

On our website, you can purchase unique products using the millefiori technique in the section "Jewellery made of precious metals, stones and bijouterie".