“I imagined it. Then, it was there!” Carlotta Gabbiani tells me, her eyes lighting up as she recounts the story of seeing her first design in Murano glass actually made. Though she works surrounded by lovely Murano glass interior design pieces designed by Marina Gabbiani, her mother, and herself, Carlotta is still amazed at the miracle of seeing their ideas taking on the physical forms of their pieces.

Marina Gabbiani, who has been designing pieces in Murano glass since the 1970's, tells of both the challenges and rewards of being among the first female designers to work with the then entirely, and still mostly today, male glass masters on Murano. She had to become an expert in their processes and techniques to realize her dream of designing works of Murano glass. Both designers, perhaps even the whole family, share a wonderful attitude of pride without vanity. They are delighted to see their designs for beautiful things realized, and truly happy that others also appreciate their work.  It is a rare pleasure to spend time with people who are so very talented, and yet also so modest.

Entering the Gabbiani offices in Palazzo Bragadin feels very much like entering an elegant and yet joyful home. It's impossible not to feel joyful when surrounded by such a wealth of color and texture; Their Murano glass vases, lamps, chandeliers and tables accented by deeply textured lampshades and the family collection of paintings, mirrors and handmade frames. Yet, while it is all wonderfully luxurious, closer inspection reveals hundreds of tiny details – bubbles, squiggles, blossoms – that bring a smile to one's face. 

Nevertheless, it quickly becomes clear that this is a busy workplace. In one room, there is a large drafting table with rolls of paper and sketches scattered across it. In another, dozens of handmade lampshades in all shapes and styles. On these shelves is a collection of antique and vintage picture frames. Behind that door, whimsical accent tables with Murano glass pedestals are assembled. Meanwhile, there is the constant coming and going of spritely people who never fail to flash a smile as they go along their creative way to whatever the task is at hand.   

From ambitious yet humble beginnings in the 1960's – One of Marina's two original designs can be seen in a windowed cabinet in the sitting room. – Marina and Carlotta now design entire interior design collections in Murano glass. From purely decorative sculptural pieces, to tables, vases, lamps and chandeliers, from their imaginations and senses of style spring forth entire environments accented with lively yet elegant colors and forms of Murano glass.

It does sound wonderfully romantic to have ones imaginings brought to life in such a way. But, theirs is also a job that demands significant expertise. Not only must one be blessed with a constant supply of artistic inspiration to think up new designs – One wonders if Marina or Carlotta ever suffers from designer's block as one can suffer from writer's block from time to time? - one must also draw the design with great specification.

Successfully designing pieces to be made with Murano glass requires a deep understanding of the materials and, most importantly, the glass working techniques developed by the Murano glass masters over the centuries and still used by them today. Marina, the Venetian daughter of the painter Carlo Ravagnan, has had a lifelong interest in Murano glass arts. The success of her designs results from of the combination of her creativity with her wide knowledge of Murano glass working techniques. Ask about any piece by Gabbiani, or any other work of Murano glass, and Marina will tell you each and every technique involved in its production.   

The sheer breadth of designs - lovely designs - created by the Gabbiani's is remarkable.  A dignified, shaded, chandelier in a deep burgandy tone, or a vase of lavender glass ever so slightly accented with gold?  How about a vintage side table with swirly Murano glass legs?  Though very diverse in their forms, these are just a few more of my favorites pieces by Gabbiani:

Website:  www.gabbiani-venezia.it
​
Address: 6036 Castello, Venezia 30122

The most difficult lesson of any art history student or would-be contemporary artist is that before one can evolve or revolutionize an artform, one must first become a master of that art. The Murano Glass Masters Franco and Mauro Panizzi are a pair of such rare artists who have surpassed the level of mastery of their craft and have indeed gone on to revolutionize designs, styles and forms of Murano glass. 

While you may not have heard their names, it is highly likely that you have seen some of Mauro and Franco's work. The Panizzi brothers are in some ways a special secret, secreted away deep inside of the secret world of Murano glass, where they are called upon by everyone from independent designers, to famous glass factories, to internationally renowned fashion houses to carve, shape and perfect glass objects. (Mauro and Franco's clients have included the furnaces AV Mazzega, Venini, Carlo Moretti, Nason Moretti, Seguso, and Salviati as well as the artists Cristiano Bianchin, Maria Grazia Rosin, Diego Lazzarini, Giorgio Vigna, Yasuiko Tsuchida.) Masters of molatura, battitura, incisioni and fusione, Franco and Mauro are the men who add texture to many of the most sought after and luxurious works of Murano Glass. But, make no mistake, Maestri Franco and Mauro are not only highly skilled artisans, they are artists. In their workshop, in the collection designed and created by them, a contemporary style of Murano Glass working and design has emerged. 

Brothers Franco and Mauro own the moleria, a “cold working” glass studio, of Panizzi Eugenio SNC. The studio was originally opened on Murano by their uncle, Marco Varisco, and eventually taken over by their father, Eugenio Panizzi. Both men were masters at carving and engraving glass whose work, focused primarily on engravings of crystal glasswares in the Bohemian style. (“Bohemian” is the expression, still widely used, to describe the style of cut, engraved or facetted crystal that was originally popularized by the glass masters of Bohemia.) Eugenio was widely respected for his mastery at carving intricate crystal objects, an artistic skill that he passed on to his two sons Mauro and Franco.

When they took over the workshop, Mauro and Franco not only continued the tradition of intricate carving and grinding, but also expanded their skills and offerings to include the “battitura” - a deep carving and texturing of Murano Glass – sandblasting, and fusion of Murano Glass. Today, their skills are in extremely high demand by other factories and even designer labels. However, it is in their own innovative collection of Murano glass works that really shows what they can be done when exceptional skill is combined with unrestrained creativity.

Fusion, in contemporary English, is a word used to describe just about anything that combines various culture and traditions to create something new. We regularly hear it used in relation to food and fashion. Fusion is also the perfect word to describe the original collection of works of Murano Glass created by Maestri Mauro and Franco Panizzi.  Not only do they literally fuse pieces of Murano Glass together – a historic technique as old as mosaic work - but also because the unique designs they have created combine many of the most famous types of Murano glass – they make ample use of Murano's famous Murrine glass – and, the resulting pieces themselves - including Murano glass magic carpets, tribal masks and chopstick holders - clearly embrace cross-cultural artistic traditions and imagination.

Maestri Franco and Mauro were kind enough to let me visit their studio and observe their work on several occasions. There, despite the riotously bright colors of their finished work, I found myself submerged in an exceptionally calm and focused environment.  As the fusion furnace worked it's slow magic of melting canes of glass into their desired patterns, each of the brothers was calmly engaged in making delicate incisions, smoothing edges, or grinding deep texture into glass.  Of course, their work is best suited to people with focused eyes and steady hands!  The only complaint I ever heard from either of them is that their hands sometimes get cold...  

​Molatura, battitura and incisioni are all techniques for adding texture to glass. These types of glass work are referred to as "cold working".  It's cold not only because the glass is worked at room-temperature rather than heated, but also because there is a constant stream of water running over the wheel used to carve the glass.  (I image the water is very important both in helping the maestri see the results of each cut clearly and also for washing away tiny shards of glass which could otherwise be dangerous.)

Just as experts in any field can disagree very much on the appropriate use of industry terminology, the maestri never did agree, though we discussed it extensively, to give me precise definitions of each type of glass carving.  Is an incision any cut in the glass?  Or is it a delicate, shallow cut, made vertically or horizontally on the piece?  It seems that, at any point in the process of carving or texturing glass, the definition is different and it has to do with both how many different textures of wheel are used to work the glass and what texture is achieved in the end. Battitura, for example, is achieved using a rougher-wheel that leaves a depth of texture and matte look on the glass, whereas in mulatura a smooth and shiny texture is achieved by working the piece with wheels of increasing softer textures and materials.

Fusion of Murano glass is achieved by organizing and layering pieces of glass together, and then placing them in a furnace in which the glass is then melted together at an extremely high temperature.  Franco and Mauro brought such a furnace to their studio in 1994 and have since developed exceptional styles and designs of fused pieces and are expert at creating deeply layered designs in glass works through fusion.

I observed much of the creation of one of the Panizzi's fused and carved Murano glass platters.  Here, small slices of canes of colored Murano glass and murrine glass were cut and organized into a circular pattern and placed into the furnace.  The resulting fused piece was breathtaking in itself; It was amazing how the ends of the murrine - in this case a rosette pattern murrine - showed through in 3-dimensional clarity.  But, this piece is a Panizzi and texture matters here.  Franco Panizzi set immediately to work carving it in a design that made it both brighter and more elegant and showed even more of the character of the murrine inside.  The fused pieces in Franco and Mauro's collection include not only these platters, but also murrine paperweights, sculptures of magic carpets, wall hangings, glasses, jewelry and vases.  These are just a couple more examples:

Seeing such a diversity of design and style in the collection created by the two brothers, I couldn't resist asking them which were their favorites.  Mauro immediately directly my attention to geometric-designed wall hanging, whereas there was no single favorite for Franco, who went around the showroom pointing out a half-dozen pieces he'd be glad to take home.  These are favorite pieces selected by each of the maestri:  

Personally, I found almost too much to admire in the Panizzi collection - fine details, dramatic colors, a huge a range of textures - but when it comes to choosing favorites, they must be their stunning fused, carved, blown at a furnace, and then, of course, engraved glasses.  Each of these pieces is as light as a feather and has a lovely texture that feels almost like sea glass.  Meanwhile, here again maestri Franco and Mauro have used Murano's classic murrine glass to achieve a totally new design and, while they were at it, they also made whimsical delicate carvings on the pieces as well.  Each of these strikes me as a small masterpiece of contemporary Murano glass:

During my most recent visit to the Panizzi's workshop, a pair of young travelers happened bye and decided to come inside to ask about shopping for authentic Murano glass.  The Marchio del Vetro Atristico Murano, the official Murano glass trademark is used by the Panizzi brothers as one form of guarantee.  "Another form of guarantee," We told the boys, "is too look for shops like the one you're in now, where the items are unique from each other and from the items in other shops.  If you have arrived at the shop of Panizzi, you're doing very well!"

Don't be shy about visiting Mauro and Franco during your trip to Murano.  They are located at #29 Calle delle Conterie, near the glass museam and the famous church of Santi Maria e Donato.  In their small shop you'll discover original and unique works of Murano glass - pieces are available in all price ranges - the likes of which you will not see anywhere else in Venice.  Meanwhile, as the shop and workshop are connected, you may have a chance to see them working yourself.  Here's how to find Panizzi Murano: 

OG Venice would like to thank Franco and Mauro for their patience with our interruptions of their work, but mostly for their beautiful work itself.  Their collection gives all of us a chance to appreciate not only mastery at Murano glass working techniques, but also the use of those techniques in the creation of completely original - beautiful - works of Murano glass arts.  

What's your favorite detail of Venice?  Is it the sculpture of an angel's wing on that tomb on San Michele?  The turquoise colored shutters on that orange house in Mazzorbo?  Is it the fact that no matter how much time one spends exploring there is always something new to discover?  Or are they the ever evolving but always somehow perfect to the tiniest detail artisan crafts made in the City?  … I could never answer that question!  I like almost all of it!  What I can do is offer some suggestions for both holiday gifts and local shopping that offer a special glimpse into the highly detailed world of Venice.

One can never see too much, nor can one have ever seen it all, of Venice!  And a view of venice may be even more inspiring when one is far away.  With professional photographs of Venice, you can bring Venice into your home without hanging a carnival mask on your wall.  (Though I personally do both…)

Island of San Michele 2015 Calendar byKurt Tappeiner.

If you're lucky enough to be doing your holiday shopping in Venice, you face the duel challenges of both knowing what's really Venetian and deciding what to buy.  For a few tricks re: how to tell if something has really been made in Venice, please see our previous post here.  Meanwhile,  though we can't tell you which of the many amazing handmade goods in Venice are best for your loved-ones, we can tell you this: To get the very best of what Venice has to offer, shop in Artisan Stores.  These are a few that have recently been added to OG Venice Travel Guide:

Two essential companions for your venice-bound explorers because sightseeing in Venice doesn't end at the exit from Dodge's Palace.  No.  That is where it begins!  In every nook and cranny, behind the most innocuous looking doorway and down the most humble of narrow streets there are secret signs and symbols speaking of the history of the city and telling stories of her past.  I have never had more fun sightseeing in Venice than I had exploring the "secret" city with the help of these two books:  The Secret Venice of Corto Maltese and Secret Venice.  Give these to your Venice-bound explorer!