News

Most lights are chosen standing up and lived with sitting down. How sparkle, glare, glass and shades look from the chair, and what to ask before choosing.

Two versions of the same ceiling light differ only in their crystal. A guide to Swarovski, Asfour, Bohemian crystal and Murano cristallo: what each is made of, how it is worked, and what to look for in a description.

From bobèche to Rezzonico, the Italian names for the parts, techniques and styles of the Murano chandelier, explained for anyone choosing one.

A small blown-glass bird at a country auction turned out to be the work of Vistosi. Its story leads back through four centuries of Murano’s glass animals, to a question about horses that may never be answered.

In 1665 a French company was founded to break Venice's hold on the making of mirrors. The craft it set out to take had been guarded for centuries in Venice and on Murano, and workshops there still practise it by hand.

Conservators and makers counsel restraint in cleaning a chandelier and its shades: dry removal as routine, washing as conditional, and a clear sense of when to stop and consult a specialist.