Zanfirico

This is a glass rod executed with the same procedure as the murrina. A sheaf of cannas of different colours is prepared with a given design, then it is heated to the melting point: two metal rods are then attached at the ends of the molten mass while two maestros draw it out and give it a rotating movement. The fluidity of the materials is such that it can be twisted at will to assume the desired characteristic spiral-like shape inside. This type of object was already known in Murano in the XVI century with the name of "a retortoli" glass. The current name of "zanfirico" is taken from the Venetian nineteenth century dealer Antonio Sanquirico who proposed this process anew. During the 50s, the refined vases designed by Fulvio Bianconi were executed with this technique. The painter Dino Martens obtained the most outstanding results when he designed pieces produced by Aureliano Toso's that were unique for imagination and colour combination.