Aventurine glass is a variety of glass with a very unusual scintillating appearance which comes from the presence of light reflecting metallic crystals. Its name derives from the unpredictability of its success as noted in the journal of Giovanni Darduin (1585 - 1654) : “very appropriately they call it aventurine since it is arrived at more by chance than by any scientific method.” It is also known by the name “stellaria”. Aventurine is made by adding copper or iron to molten glass and slowly firing the amalgamation in a furnace deprived of air. The crucible is then broken to release blocks of the transformed material. According to Charles Bray, one can also produce aventurine by adding large quantities of lead saturated with chrome oxide to the glass.

If Chalcidian glass was already known in Murano during the XVth century, aventurine did not appear until the XVIIth century. Its inventors seem to be from Murano’s Miotti family, who apparently kept the secret of its fabrication hidden for many years. Aventurine’s jewel-like qualities, resulting from the presence of fine particles of copper, made it well suited to the fabrication of, among other things, buttons and earrings. The seductive glass was a huge success and extremely sought after. After falling from vogue toward the end of the XVIIth century, it was rediscovered around 1845 by Pietro Bigaglia, who also happened to be responsible for the revival of filigree glass.

Aventurine remains to this day an important element of Venetian craft and tradition, although somehow it has not captured the interest of contemporary artists in the same way as other traditional techniques.

Biblio DORIGATO Attilia, “ Murano Glass Museum”, Electa, Milan, 1986 BRAY Charles, “ Dictionnary of Glass”, A§ C Black , Londres, 1995