The stylish Vivarini collection typifies the best of Murano glass, though contemporary it hasn’t abandoned its links with the past. Since ancient times man has paid an almost mystic attention to glass, attributing something magical and supernatural to this transparent material.

Magicians of legend could predict the future by gazing into a crystal sphere, chemists and alchemists studied prisms in search of a stone which would turn metal into gold, magic that was born in flames and like fire that gave birth to the Phoenix, glass is synonymous with beauty.

Even today the furnaces of Murano have remained unaltered over time and new technology is only glimpsed. This is because of the dedication the master glassmakers have towards tradition. There have been more than one thousand years of history of glass-blowing in Venice, but time appears to have stopped.

The glass masters use the same glass-blowers pipes and the same tools which were knowingly forged in the workshops. The skills have been honed and lovingly handed down father to son for generation after generation. Renowned for its quality and form, today Venetian glass production is at its pinnacle.

The Vivarini collection of Murano glass is now available at the Artemisia gallery in Abbotsbury, Dorset.