AVENA by FORMIA INTERNATIONAL

This product SHIPS FREE
The extraordinary curvy shape of this design vase line reminds of a field of ripe wheat, rippled by the summer breeze, making waves in the tall grain. “Avena” is a wave of glass, subtle but powerful. Its apparent simplicity, born from a careful study of shapes and lines, makes “Avena” a timeless product, suitable for any style and able to surprise anybody: essential, exclusive, unique. The “Avena” line is available in many colours and sizes; this vase is the red/steel version, in three sizes.

FORMIA INTERNATIONAL Srl - VIVARINI LUXURY Glass

Formia International was founded in 1962, and has grown to include 26 furnaces and 10 master glassmakers who work within it today.

Formia International continuously collaborates with high fashion names, creating products for the home decorating lines of Fendi, Cavalli, Dior and Armani.

Distiguished by a fusion of traditional craft techniques, artistic and design creativity, and innovative technical solutions, Formia's production is absolutely unique, subdivided into two separate brands: FORMIA Luxury Glass Murano and Vivarini.

Vivarini is an experimental, passionate brand. The lines are essential and clean, the colours are vivid and modern. Luxury Glass Murano offers a more traditional product selection, following classic aesthetic. The bottom line of this collection is "custom made", in step with the fashion world. A “prêt à porter” series runs beside "haute couture", which presents unique pieces according to consumer needs and tastes. Thus the Formia - Luxury Glass Murano brand proposes a product range in which classic Murano refinement meets modern taste, while maintaining the "charm of a timeless elegance", producing unique and cherished works of art.

BLOWING

Glass-blowing, which most likely originated in Syria between the first century BC and the first century AD, is a glass manufacturing technique that revolutionized glass production times by significantly speeding them up. This may be defined as the "classic" technique for creation of hollow objects.

Glass can be mouth-blown or mould-blown. In the first instance the master, aided by his assistants, shapes the object by blowing through a long hollow metal tube, the so-called "blow-pipe".

The glass is picked up from the center of the oven, blown and shaped by use of a "borsella", a pair of flexible tongs that can accomplish different tasks depending on their shape. Indeed, the borsella can be used to pinch the object, narrow it, remove imperfections, open it up or give it a precise shape.

During this work, the pipe is countinuously spun to avoid warping the glass, as it is still soft at this stage and can be warped by gravity.

Mould-blowing, on the other hand, involves blowing the glass into a mould which, in Murano, is built out of pear wood. It can be made out of two or three hinged pieces, used to shape the object, or by a single truncated conical piece, sometimes made of bronze or brass, used to imprint a decorative pattern onto the object.

"MURRINO" GLASS or HOT-WORKED MOSAIC

The hot-worked glass mosaic is based upon glass canes; they are produced in very few furnaces, due to the complexity of its manufacturing.

The master picks up a cylindrical mass of molten glass (the "paston") with the cane-making rod, and joins it to a smaller blob (the "conzaura") attached to a short rod. He then hands over one of the rods to his assistant, then they slowly walk away from each other lengthening the glass rope.

As the glass quickly cools, they carefully set down the hardened cane onto rough wooden boards on the floor. The evenness of the cane depends exclusively on the superior craftsmanship of the master. A special type of cane is called "millefiori"; it is a hollow or solid cane composed of concentric multicoloured layers which, in cross-section, form a typical star- or flower-shaped pattern.

These canes are produced by filling open moulds in succession, creating each pattern by layers of different-coloured glass. The finished cane is used by cutting into small segments and arranged onto a horizontal metallic plate, coated with purified lagoon-marsh mud -- this is the only substance able to isolate melting glass from metal. The arrangement is melted inside an oven and picked up for further processing, usually blowing and shaping with tongs. It is this initial procedure that determines the pattern and size of the object, whether one uses solid canes, geometric plates, filigree or aventurine, and creates an infinite variety of unique products.