Frosted Sommerso Glass Vases with Murrines and Signatures

• Sommerso - A method of making cased glass developed in Murano in the 1930s, where one or more layers of transparent coloured glass is encased within a layer of thick clear colourless glass.
• Murrine - A murrine is created by building up a cane or rod of glass, by plunging the rod into a coloured glass, and then into a shaped dip mould, and repeating this procedure using different coloured glasses to build up a variety of layers. When the dipping is complete a longer cane is created by stretching the glass, and once cooled, can be cut, and the pattern will be revealed in the cross-section.
• Engraved Glass - The method of decorating glass by marking the surface with a sharp intrument such as a diamond, metal needle or rotating cutting wheel. As pressure is applied to the surface, best results for engraving are achieved if the glass is of sufficient thickness. In the 19th century etching was used to decorate some table glassware that was too fine to take an engraving tool.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• glass, types or items - sommerso 168
• Venetian / Murano glass, housewares - other 1,199