Murano Glass Animal Sculptures
Glass is the only material that can hold light inside an animal.
Murano Glass Animal Sculptures — 2 pieces
Murano Glass Animal Sculptures
Glass is the only material that can hold light inside an animal. That is why Murano has been sculpting them for six hundred years — horses and bulls for the palaces, doves for the weddings, fish and dolphins because the city itself was built in water.
Every piece here is shaped free-hand at the furnace from a single gather of molten glass, without moulds and without seams. The master has roughly ninety seconds while the glass is still workable: the trunk is raised, the neck drawn out, the tail arched. Which is why no two are ever quite alike — and why the small differences are the proof, not the flaw.
From a twelve-centimetre polar bear to a forty-seven-centimetre prancing horse, in clear crystal, colour, or real gold leaf fused into the surface. Every piece arrives with a certificate of authenticity and fully insured worldwide shipping. Looking for something smaller? See our millefiori miniature animals.
Murano Glass Animal Sculptures
Pulled from the gather
A glass animal is drawn out of a glowing mass with steel pincers in the few minutes before it stiffens: the master pulls a neck, snips a beak, twists a tail, and the gesture has to be right the first time. There is no mould. Colour comes from sommerso layers or from canes rolled into the surface, never from paint — our guide to techniques shows how.
Choosing and showing one
Look at the silhouette first: a good animal reads from across the room. Then check the colour transitions and the base, which should sit flat. Give the piece light — a shelf near a window or a lamp above it — and a dark surface underneath. Smaller pieces for gifts are in millefiori animals; larger abstract work in art sculptures.
Frequently asked questions
Is every animal different?
Within a model, yes. The same subject is made again and again, but shaped free-hand, so proportions and the run of colour change every time — your piece will not be identical to the photograph.
Are they suitable as gifts for children?
They are decorative objects, not toys: solid glass with thin extremities. For a child's room choose a shelf out of reach, or pick something sturdier from our gift ideas.
How do I clean one?
A soft brush for dust; for marks, a cloth barely damp with water. Support the body, never lift by a leg, a tail or a beak.
