Venetian Glass, Old And Modern
IF you have been in Venice then you know the Murano Museum and its
beguiling collection of Venetian glass, that old glass so vastly
more beautiful in line and decoration than the modern type of, say,
fifteen years ago, when colors had become bad mixtures, and
decorations meaningless excrescences.
A
bit of inside information given out to some one really interested,
led to a revival of pure line and lovely, simple coloring, with
appropriate decorations or none at all. You may already know that
romantic bit of history. It seems that when the museum was first
started, about four hundred years ago, the glass blowers agreed to
donate specimens of their work, provided their descendants should be
allowed access to the museum for models.
This contract made it a simple matter for a connoisseur to get
reproduced exactly what was wanted, and what was not in the market.
Elegance, distinguished simplicity in shapes, done in glass of a
single color, or in one color with a simple edge in a contrasting
shade, or in one color with a whole nosegay of colors to set it off,
appearing literally as flowers or fruit to surmount the stopper of a
bottle, the top of a jar, or as decorations on candlesticks.
It was in the Museo Civico of Venice that we saw and fell victims to
an enchanting antique table decorations formal Italian garden, in
blown glass, once the property of a great Venetian family and
redolent of those golden days when Venice was the playground of
princes, and feasting their especial joy; days when visiting royalty
and the world's greatest folk could have no higher honor bestowed
upon them than a gift of Venetian glass, often real marvels mounted
in silver and gold.
We never tired of looking at that fairy garden with its delicate
copings, balustrades and vases of glass, all abloom with exquisite
posies in every conceivable shade, wrought of glass a veritable
dream thing.
Finally, nothing would do but we must know if it had ever been
copied. The curator said that he believed it had, and an address was
given us. How it all comes back! We arose at dawn, as time was
precious, took our coffee in haste and then came that gliding trip
in the gondola, through countless canals, to a quarter quite unknown
to us, where at work in a small room, we came upon our glass blower
and the coveted copy of that lovely table-garden.
This man had made four, and one was still in his possession. We
brought it back to America, a gleaming jeweled cobweb, and what
happened was that the very ethereal quality of its beauty made the
average taste ignore it! However, a few years have made a vast
difference in table, as well as all other decorations, and to-day
the same Venetian gardens have their faithful devotees, as is proved
by the continuous procession of the dainty wonders, ever moving
toward our sturdy shores.
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