Living Interiors is proud to represent Barovier&Toso in Australia, joining our exclusive range of Italian artisan designers.

Since 1295 (yes, 1295), Barovier&Toso has created one-of-a-kind works in Venetian mouth blown crystal. Handcrafted by master artisans in Murano, who are custodians of an age-old tradition, the craft is passed down across the generations to grow a legendary luxury lighting tradition, with designs that appeal to innovators and traditionalists alike.

THE VALUE OF A UNIQUE MATERIAL

The Venetian Crystal

Angelo Barovier invented a revolutionary formula that made it possible to obtain an unprecedented material with extraordinary characteristics of extreme transparency and brightness.

Thanks to a decree issued by the Republic of Venice in 1455, Angelo Barovier was granted the exclusive right to produce “Cristallo Veneziano” (Venetian Crystal). The factor that makes this formula unique, still used today through progressive refinements, is the total absence of lead and arsenic. This is what makes their Venetian Crystal different from any other crystal on the market, enabling the master artisans to carry out the entire production process in complete safety, achieving exceptional results. The Venetian Crystal is a unique, sustainable and safe material, ideal to give form to works of great artistic value: the creations of Barovier&Toso.

THE FURNACE

The Art of Crystal

Venetian crystal takes a long time to make. It begins with the preparation of the partìa in the afternoon, followed by firing throughout the night. On the next day, the master glassmaker crafts the piece, after which the glass is cooled and finished on the third day. The cycle constantly repeats, without interruptions.

A dry mixture is prepared every afternoon - the partìa - namely the cold blending of sands and powders required for the production of the type of glass scheduled for making on the following day in the furnace.

Inside the glassworks all the operations are carried out by one or more operative teams that work on the piece from the first removal, namely the extraction of the first glass piece for crafting, all the way to the finished item (in terms of hot forming), which is then placed in an annealing oven.

This operative unit is known in Murano as a piazza, formed by a variable number of workers, depending on the rhythm of the work and the type of product to be completed.

The piazza is guided by a master glassmaker who is assisted by a “servant”, his main helper, as well as serventini and garzoni (apprentices). The master glassmaker still operates and works with antique tools, encoded by experience, simple and essential, which cannot change over time: tubes, pliers, shears, compasses, templates and moulds.

Many types of workmanship are done mano volante (freehand), but often the blowing happens with the aid of moulds in wood or cast iron, or the glass is poured into containers for the production of glass plate.

The finished piece is still very hot, around 400°/500°, but it is already very rigid and is moved to the cooling oven from which it will emerge completely de-tensioned, ready for cold workmanship.

At this point the glass leaves the area strictly known as the glassworks, and enters a more specific grinding department where very simple mechanical means are used to detach, finish and polish the piece with saws and grinders.

Finally, the piece passes through washing, quality control, preassembly, packing and shipping.

These are peices of art, designed and besoke for each order. See the collection here. 

Contact us today to discuss how Barovier&Toso can create a piece of timeliness artwork for you. 

Thursday 8 September, 2022

Exclusive Venetian luxury lighting brand Barovier&Toso hits the Australian market. Only at Living Interiors.