Marc Heiremans / Caterina Toso

A creative exchange with artists such as the painter Guido Cadorin or the ceramicist and sculptor Hans Stoltenberg-Lerche brought the second generation Toso Brothers to the forefront of Murano glass manufactories at the beginning of the twentieth century. After the Second World War Ermanno Toso and Pollio Perelda were among the most famous designers and continued the production of lavish series in glass, complemented from the 1950s onwards with high-quality one-offs executed mainly in the celebrated millefiori technique. This decoration consists of a multitude of tiny coloured discs, known as murrini, which are produced by melting, cooling and cutting bundled canes of glass to form a cross-section pattern.

Together with Caterina Toso, renowned Murano expert Marc Heiremans looks back on and reviews the complex history of the famous glass manufactory. Well-informed texts, hitherto unpublished sketches and archive photos make Fratelli Toso Murano an essential reference work for all connoisseurs of glass.

With its intense colours and a wide range of complex forms and decoration, glass art from Murano occupies a particularly special position in the world. And Fratelli Toso is one of the most important manufactories of the twentieth century on this laguna island, with exceptional glass objects having being produced here from 1854 to 1980.

The present company monograph begins in 1902, as the second generation of the founding family took over the manufactory.

Thanks to the creative exchange with artists, such as the painter Guido Cadorin or the ceramicist and sculptor Hans Stoltenberg-Lerche, the company rose to the pinnacle of glass manufactories on Murano.

After the Second World War Ermanno Toso and Pollio Perelda continued the production of quality, high-end series in glass and complemented these in the 1950s with exceptional oneoffs for exhibitions and trade fairs – mainly in its famous millefi ori decoration, in which a multitude of small coloured discs – so-called murrine – are cut from a glass strand and then melted together in glass.

The comprehensive illustrated section displays the most beautiful pieces from eight decades of the company’s history, beginning with Art Nouveau vases and on to representational glass sculptures via the revival of the murrine technique.

In the second section of the book, around 2,000 of the most important documents from the glass manufactory’s archive – photographs and model drawings as well as excerpts from model books and catalogues – have been made available to the public for the very fi rst time, enabling the reader to precisely identify collectors’ pieces.

Marc Heiremans is a specialist in this fi eld and has published many books on Murano glass. Together with Caterina Toso he has reviewed the complex history of this major glass manufactory – from 1902 to the division of the company in 1980.
A spectacular illustrated section, texts from renowned experts and hitherto unpublished design drawings and archive photographs make Fratelli Toso Murano a most indispensable reference work for all enthusiasts of glass.

CONTENTS THE AUTHOR
Marc Heiremans is an expert on Murano glass and supervises the set-up of diverse important collections across Europe and North America. He is a member of the Royal Chamber of Antiquarians of Belgium and of the Belgium Chamber of Art Experts. Heiremans is also author of the Arnoldsche publications 20th Century Murano Glass (1996), Dino Martens. Muranese Glass Designer (1999), Seguso Vetri D’Arte. Glass Objects from Murano
(1932–1973) (2014) and Vetreria Aureliano Toso, Murano 1938–1968 (2016).

More books about Muranese
glass art:
Marc Heiremans
VETRETRIA AURELIANO
TOSO, MURANO 1938–1968
Designs by Dino Martens, Enrico Potz
and Gino Poli
368 pages, 23,5 x 30 cm,
1.600 colour ills.
Hardcover. English.
ISBN 978-3-89790-454-5
€ 98 [D] / US$ 170 / £ 98
 
Marc Heiremans
SEGUSO VETRI D'ARTE
Glass Objects from Murano
(1932−1973)
400 pages, 24 x 30 cm,
2.000 colour ills.
Hardcover with dust jacket. English.
ISBN 978-3-89790-162-9
€ 198 [D] / US$ 340 / £ 198