Existing Murano glass furnaces are very few in number. One may have a reasonable doubt if the art is slowly getting extinct. But once in a while one is pleasantly surprised when a new furnace takes shape and gets into business.

When in 1984, the master glass blower Alberto Mattiello decided to establish a furnace of his own, it denoted a revival of the ancient glass art of Murano. Alberto was interested in the art at a very small age. He started working on glass when he was just eleven years old.

He started the glass blowing work in 1984 with the name Vetreria Artistica Biemmeci. The glass objects produced in the company was characterized by their lightness and exquisite designs. Mattiello was successful in combining the antique tradition of Murano glass works with modern designs and ideas.

As he had started his career with some of the great glass maestros, it was not surprising that the products of Nuova Biemmeci presented great quality in its glass articles. The innate talent that had existed in the artist was enhanced by the training he had received from early ages.

In 1997 Alberto’s son Stephano also joined his father in the family business and the business flourished. No molds are used in the Nuova Biemmeci furnace. All the articles are hand-blown and manually shaped. This gives the objects a s pecial elegance and lightness.

Once upon a time the glass objects were produced in red, blue smoke grey and light green. But now all colors are used. Nuova Biemmeci was the first furnace that started coloring glasses.

Small furnaces started by ordinary families are the only hope of Murano glass industry, which has lost most of its prestige and grandeur in the present world. But the presence of a few minds in which the sparks of the ancient furnaces still molder gives it much hope.

by Marina Chernyak