Text Vicky Bennison
Traditional techniques and modern designs combine at Murano glass makers Carlo Moretti
If you were ambling along by the Grand Canal on the Venetian island of Murano and saw a man with a stack of bricks tucked under one arm, what would you think? Use a wheelbarrow? For Giovanni Moretti, it was the inspiration to design a glass sculpture and in the process invent a new glass-making technique involving the fusion of 50 small glass bricks.
Giovanni and his brother Carlo are the duo behind the Carlo Moretti brand. In the illustrious roll-call of Murano glass makers, Carlo Moretti is the industry equivalent of, say, Prada: ultra-modern, slightly quirky and very, very expensive. The company’s works, which range from simple goblets to large artworks, are exhibited in museums around the world and collected by the rich and famous. Bono has Carlo Moretti wine glasses and Elton John bought a Monolite, the name given to the glass-brick sculpture.
Carlo Moretti glass is pricey because it’s made by hand using techniques that have barely changed for hundreds of years. A glass worker from the 13th century could walk into today’s Moretti factory and be at home, although the designs may startle him. Some practices have changed, too: workers no longer pass blowpipes from mouth to mouth, since it was discovered a century or so ago that warm, saliva-coated metal is an ideal way of spreading syphilis.
The Moretti family has been making glass on Murano for generations. Carlo and Giovanni’s great-great grandfather is credited with introducing the technique of murrine beads, which have a daisy-style pattern and often turn up in Africa as trading beads. Giovanni and Carlo could have stayed with the family firm, but decided to do something different and set up a new business.
Back in 1958, they took on 18 workers and the entire team worked together to produce each piece, each person with their own specific role in the process.
Nearly five decades later, this approach hasn’t altered. Organised in this way, the workforce can make up to 30 pieces an hour for simple vases. This might sound a lot, but it isn’t – Carlo Moretti isn’t interested in mass production.
It employs the same number of men today as it did 49 years ago.
And it is always men. This is partly owing to the physical strength needed to wield a blowpipe weighing several kilos with the required dexterity while it has a glob of molten glass on one end. It’s also tradition, harking back to the Renaissance when Venice operated a strict code for glass makers, detailing what they could and could not do.
Their daughters could marry into nobility (a reflection of their exalted status), for example, but they risked the death penalty if they attempted to teach trade secrets to outsiders.
Such is the enduring culture of secrecy that even today the only way to learn the craft is to become an apprentice with a firm, where most workers stay all their working lives. It’s easy to spot early whether someone has an aptitude for the basics: to capture glass from a 1,000°C furnace, roll it into an even shape before blowing the glass like a balloon, all the while twizzling and swinging the pipe. But even with natural talent, it takes around five years to become a ‘glass master’.
Most days Carlo can be found on the factory floor, keeping an eye on the apprentices and consulting with his glass masters. When he’s not there, he’s developing new collections. As with many designers, he’s vague about his sources of inspiration: ‘the lagoon, the life’. He and Giovanni do all the designing themselves. At Venini (owned by Royal Copenhagen), they invite outsiders to design special pieces for them. In fact, the two companies’ approaches to design are sufficiently different that they happily share a Murano showroom.
The Monolite design was special: the brothers had been invited to exhibit at a glass exhibition in the Palazzo Ducale as part of the Venice Biennale in 1998. The piece requires a grand setting, which most Carlo Moretti fans don’t have. For them, there are the annual editions of champagne glasses – which can be bought individually or in sets of six – and decanters. Recently, Moretti introduced I Piccoli, a collection of 30 scaled-down versions of larger works. They’re not cheap, but a vase or three can sit on your sideboard quite happily without dominating the room – in a child-free household, anyway.
So, is it a good idea to own Carlo Moretti glass? Essentially you’re buying art, so dismiss the thought that you can pick up factory seconds – they don’t exist. To wander into a Moretti showroom is like entering a grown-up and chic Santa’s grotto, and it’s difficult not to fall in love with colour and drama of the creations on offer. Even if you have no intention of collecting glass, perhaps buy a tumbler. In an age of mass-produced cheap glass that we give no thought to, every time you fondle it you’ll marvel at the artistry and the 18 pairs of hands that made it.
Discovering glass
Glass making was a fire hazard for Venice, so the industry was moved to the island of Murano in 1291. The 10-minute boat trip is good fun: take vaporetto numbers 41 or 42, avoid the touts and buy The Complete Guide to the Island of Murano by Michela Scibilia, which details all the sights, galleries and factories you can visit.
Visit Museo del Vetro, 8 Fondamenta Giustinian, Murano, tel. 041 739586 (closed Wednesdays and on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May).
Watch glass being made at Gino Mazzuccato, 1 Fondamenta Manin, www.ginomazzuccato.com or visit www.promovetro.com for a list of guided tours, events and companies selling genuine Murano glass.
Find your nearest Carlo Moretti stockist at www.carlomoretti.com
FR> Coeur de verre
En descendant le long du Grand Canal, sur l’île vénitienne de Murano, que penseriez-vous si vous voyiez un homme avec une pile de briques sous le bras? Qu’il ferait mieux d’utiliser une brouette? Pour Giovanni Moretti, ce fut l’inspiration d’une sculpture en verre, amalgamant 50 petites briques de verre par fusion, appelée Monolite.
Giovanni et son frère Carlo sont le duo derrière la marque Carlo Moretti. Dans la liste prestigieuse des verriers de Murano, ils représentent l’équivalent de Prada pour cette industrie: ultra-moderne, légèrement bizarre et très chère.
Le verre de Carlo Moretti est précieux parce qu’il est réalisé à la main, en utilisant des techniques inchangées depuis des centaines d’années. Un ouvrier du verre du 13e siècle pourrait entrer dans l’usine de Moretti aujourd’hui et ne pas être dépaysé, hormis toutefois le design des objets qui pourraient le faire sursauter.
La famille Moretti est dans le verre de Murano depuis des générations. Giovanni et Carlo auraient pu rester dans la firme familiale, mais ils en ont décidé autrement et ont lancé leur propre affaire.
En 1958, ils ont engagé 18 ouvriers et toute l’équipe s’est soudée pour produire chaque pièce, chaque personne avec son rôle spécifique. Après cinq décennies, cette approche est toujours inaltérée.
Tout comme la culture pérennisée du secret dans la fabrication du verre, la seule façon d’apprendre l’art du verre étant de devenir apprenti. On reconnaît aisément une personne qui a des aptitudes de base, mais même avec un talent indéniable, cela prend près de cinq ans pour devenir un ‘maître verrier’.
Le Monolite demande un grand espace, ce que la plupart des gens n’ont pas. Toutefois, Carlo Moretti a lancé récemment I Piccoli, une collection de 30 versions réduites de la pièce originale. Elles ne sont pas données mais un vase peut être tranquillement disposé sur un buffet sans dominer toute la pièce – dans une maison sans enfants, cela va sans dire.
NL> Een hart voor glas
Als je op het Venetiaanse eiland Murano langs het Canal Grande kuiert en plots een man met een stapel bakstenen onder de arm ziet wandelen, wat zou je dan denken? Gebruik een kruiwagen? Giovanni Moretti inspireerde het tot een glassculptuur waarin 50 kleine glazen bakstenen versmelten. Hij noemde het Monolite.
Giovanni en zijn broer Carlo zijn het duo achter het merk Carlo Moretti. Onder de glasblazers van Murano zijn zij het equivalent van Prada: hypermodern, eigengereid en zeer, zeer duur.
Het glaswerk van Carlo Moretti is duur omdat het met de hand wordt gemaakt volgens technieken die de voorbije eeuwen nauwelijks zijn veranderd. Een glasblazer uit de 13de eeuw zou zich nog steeds thuis voelen in de fabriek van Moretti, hoewel de moderne ontwerpen hem wellicht zouden choqueren.
De familie Moretti maakt al vele generaties glas op Murano. Giovanni en Carlo hadden binnen het familiebedrijf kunnen blijven, maar ze beslisten om iets geheel anders te proberen en een nieuw bedrijf op te richten.
In 1958 namen ze 18 vakmannen in dienst en het hele team werkte samen aan elk stuk, waarbij iedereen een eigen specifieke taak heeft. Zo’n vijf decennia later is hun benadering nog steeds dezelfde.
Glasmakers beschermen hun geheimen angstvallig, zodat je het vak enkel kan leren door leerjongen in een van de bedrijven te worden.
Je ziet snel of iemand aanleg heeft voor de grondbeginselen, maar zelfs natuurtalenten doen er al snel vijf jaar over om ‘meesterglazenier’ te worden.
De Monolite heeft meer ruimte nodig dan de meeste mensen hebben. Daarom introduceerde Carlo Moretti onlangs I Piccoli, een verzameling van 30 schaalmodellen van grotere werken. Goedkoop zijn ze nog steeds niet, maar een van hun vazen kan perfect op een dressoir staan, zonder de kamer te domineren. Toch in een kinderloos huis.
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