About this product
Midcentury Chrome Floor Lamp with Hand Blown Venetian Glass Shade, Italy Circa 1960
Midcentury floor lamp – A brief history about Murano glassware.
Murano became Europe’s luxury glassmaking center, peaking in popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries. Venice’s dominance in trade along the Mediterranean created a wealthy merchant class that was a strong connoisseur of the arts. This helped establish demand for art glass and more innovations.
The spread of glassmaking talent in Europe eventually diminished the importance of Venice and its Murano glassmakers and the occupation and dissolution of the Venetian state by Napoleon Bonapartet in 1797 caused more hardship for Murano’s glassmaking industry. Murano glassmaking began a revival in the 1920s. Today, Murano and Venice are tourist attractions, and Murano is home to numerous glass factories and a few individual artists’ studios. Its Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum) in the Palazzo Giustinian contains displays on the history of glassmaking as well as glass samples ranging from Egyptian times through the present day.