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Murano glass repair & mosaic courses

Page 10 of 11
From: Murano, the Glass Island

ABOVE: Murano glass bottles from different eras.

We occasionally get e-mails from readers who want us to repair, replace, or make replicas of their broken glassware, light fixtures, and other objects from Murano. Sorry, folks, but we aren't glassmakers, Murano glass dealers, or even glass collectors: We're writers with no special expertise in glass.

If you're looking for an item to replace a broken glass object, your best bet is to visit Murano (or Venice) and find a substitute that you like even better.

The island and city are dotted with glass galleries, shops, and factory showrooms that offer goods in every price range, so it's unlikely that you'll go home empty-handed.

If you must have an item repaired, or if you insist on commissioning a replica, we'd suggest contacting the original supplier or reading one of the books described in this article's Guidebooks section above to find a vendor that handles that type of item and accepts custom orders.

Another possibility is to contact an antique dealer or the glass curator at a museum to find a restorer within your own country.

Warning: Restoration or custom replacement won't come cheap, so you might be better off buying a substitute on eBay if your object isn't valuable and you're strapped for cash.

Mosaic courses

Orsoni offers "Master in Mosaic" courses of 3 to 10 days at the Angelo Orsoni mosaic factory in Venice's Cannaregio district, which is a quick trip from Murano by public water bus. (Orsoni has been making mosaics since 1888. Its mosaics are in Venice's Basilica di San Marco, Barcelona's Sagrada Familia church by Antoni Gaudi, Rudolf Nureyev's Tomb in Paris, and the Golden Buddha in Sing Buri, Thailand.)

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About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

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