Millefiori Glass: The Ancient Murano Art of a Thousand Flowers

Millefiori: A Thousand Flowers in Glass

Millefiori, Italian for "a thousand flowers", is one of the most recognisable of all Murano glass techniques. Look closely at a millefiori piece and you will see dozens, sometimes hundreds, of tiny flowers and stars set side by side in the glass, each one complete in itself. The idea is more than two thousand years old, and it is still made by hand on Murano today. This guide explains what millefiori is, what the word means, how it is made, how it differs from murrine and how to tell genuine Murano millefiori from a copy.

What Is Millefiori Glass?

Millefiori glass is glass decorated with thin slices of patterned glass cane, called murrine, laid side by side and fused together, so that the surface is covered with small flowers, stars and circles. Each slice carries a complete design, because the pattern runs through the whole length of the cane it was cut from. Because the slices are arranged by hand, no two pieces are ever quite the same.

What Does Millefiori Mean?

The word joins two Italian words: mille, a thousand, and fiori, flowers. It is pronounced roughly "mee-leh-FYOH-ree". Curiously, the name was made popular outside Italy: it appears in English in 1849, in Apsley Pellatt's book Curiosities of Glass Making, at a time when the technique was being rediscovered across Europe. On Murano the glassmakers more often speak of murrine, the slices themselves.

From Ancient Rome to Murano: A Short History

Glassmakers in the Hellenistic and Roman world were already making mosaic glass, bowls built from slices of patterned cane, more than two thousand years ago. After the fall of Rome the method was all but forgotten in the West.

It returned on Murano. In the 1480s Marietta Barovier, daughter of the great Angelo Barovier, created the rosetta cane, with its layers of star-shaped colour, and in 1487 she was granted the privilege of her own small furnace to make it. Rosetta beads travelled the world as trade goods for centuries.

The millefiori we know today was born in the nineteenth century. Giovanni Battista Franchini and his son Giacomo drew canes of astonishing fineness, some with miniature portraits. In 1845 Pietro Bigaglia showed the first dated millefiori paperweights at an exhibition in Vienna, and within a year or two the French factories of Baccarat, Saint-Louis and Clichy were making their own. In the 1870s Vincenzo Moretti, working for Salviati's company, succeeded in reproducing the mosaic glass of ancient Rome, shown in Paris in 1878. Around 1900 the Fratelli Toso covered whole vases in flowers. The furnaces of the island have made millefiori ever since.

How Millefiori Is Made

1. The first layer. A small gather of coloured glass is pressed into a star- or flower-shaped mould.
2. Building the pattern. The glass is dipped into a second colour and moulded again, then a third, and so on. Each layer becomes a ring of the finished flower.
3. Pulling the cane. Two glassmakers fix an iron rod to each end of the hot cylinder and walk apart, stretching it into a cane as thin as a pencil and many metres long. The pattern shrinks but stays intact along the whole length.
4. Cutting. Once cold, the cane is cut into slices a few millimetres thick. These are the murrine.
5. Composing and fusing. The slices are set one by one, by hand, on a plate and heated until they fuse into a single sheet. The sheet is then rolled up on a blowpipe and blown into a vase, slumped into a bowl, or sealed under a dome of clear glass for a paperweight. For beads and pendants the murrine are fused in small moulds or applied to a core of hot glass at the flame.

It is slow work, and a single mistake in the composition cannot be undone once the glass has fused. You can read about related methods on our techniques page.

Millefiori and Murrine: What Is the Difference?

A murrina (plural murrine) is a single slice of patterned cane. The pattern can be anything: a flower, a star, a spiral, a face. Millefiori is what you see when many flower-patterned murrine are placed close together. In other words, all millefiori is made of murrine, but not all murrine work is millefiori: a bowl of large abstract murrine, each one different, is murrine glass, not millefiori.

Millefiori Today: Jewellery, Animals, Paperweights and Vases

• Jewellery. Pendants, earrings, bracelets and beads, where a few murrine are enough to make a small, bright object.
• Miniature animals and small sculptures. Tiny creatures whose bodies are covered in flowers, a Murano speciality.
• Paperweights. The classic form: a carpet of flowers under a dome of clear glass that magnifies it.
• Vases, bowls and plates. Larger surfaces, where the mosaic can spread out in full.

How to Recognise Authentic Murano Millefiori

Millefiori is one of the most copied kinds of Murano glass, and much of what is sold under the name is mass-produced far from Venice. These are the things to look at:

1. Proof of origin. A seller of genuine pieces can name the furnace and provide a certificate of authenticity.
2. The murrine themselves. In good work each flower is crisp, with clean outlines and several distinct rings of colour. In cheap copies the flowers are blurred or smeared, with only one or two colours.
3. The arrangement. Hand-set murrine vary slightly in size and spacing, and their edges bend where they have fused against their neighbours. A perfectly regular grid suggests a machine.
4. The finish. Edges and backs are ground smooth and polished. Rough seams, sharp edges and a plastic feel are warning signs.
5. The wording and the price. "Murano style" means it is not from Murano, and handwork is never very cheap.

For the general signs that apply to any piece, see our guide on how to recognise authentic Murano glass.

Is Millefiori Glass Valuable?

It depends on what it is. The most valuable millefiori are the French and Venetian paperweights of 1845 to 1860, which collectors pay thousands of euros for when they are rare and in fine condition. Murano vases from around 1900 are also sought after. Contemporary Murano millefiori is priced for the work in it: a pendant or a pair of earrings costs a few tens of euros, a bowl or a vase a few hundred. Mass-produced imitations have no collecting value at all.

Caring for Millefiori Glass

Dust with a soft cloth, dry or slightly damp, and wash by hand in lukewarm water with a little mild detergent. Keep millefiori out of the dishwasher and away from harsh chemicals and sudden changes of temperature. Store jewellery so that the pieces do not knock against each other. Our care guide has more.

Millefiori Glass for Sale: Pieces in Our Collection

If you would like a piece of your own, these are the millefiori and murrine pieces in our collection, each made by hand and sent with a certificate of authenticity:

• Millefiori animals, €220 each: a turtle, an elephant, a swan, a snail, a rabbit, a rooster, a squirrel and a frog with a crown.
• The Murrina tumbler, €1,190: a drinking glass built entirely from murrine.
• Bowls and centrepieces with murrine, from €150: such as the Cascata bowl, the Coriandoli bowl and the Fondamenta centrepiece.

Shipping is insured and free across the European Union. See all our millefiori animals and bowls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Discover the Art of a Thousand Flowers

From a pair of earrings to a small glass animal covered in flowers, millefiori is Murano at its most joyful. Every piece we sell is made by furnaces on Murano and comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by us. Explore our millefiori animals and our collections of Murano glass.