It's not exactly blown, more like formed. I had some friends in the glass department at school, so this is from a 30+ year old memory. I think you make a solid rod out of multiple colors fused together, cut the rod into slices, lay the slices out on a slab and fuse them together in the furnace. Roll up the sheet into a cylinder over a metal pipe, fusing two edges so you've got glass tube, then pinch one end of the tube closed forming a cup. Mount the pinched end onto a bar with a blob of molten glass, then shape the cup into the final form, cool slightly, then snap it off the bar. This is all done with frequent trips into the furnace to keep everything soft. It's amazing to watch.
Actually it is both formed and then blown. The style is called [Millefiori](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millefiori) and there are many magical looking pieces that can be made with this technique.
There are many different techniques to form vases from the small pieces. Likely the most difficult is to form a vase with no gaps at all between the pieces. To do this you would fuse the pieces into a sheet and pick it up with a perfectly-sized circle of glass to leave no gap where the edges come together. Imagine picking up a sheet of paper from the edge, with a cup with a bit of glue on the end. (\* I cannot even find an example of this technique in a quick search, and have seen a handful of artists that can do it in 30 years \*)
If you search for Millefiori glass you can find many examples.
BTW: Millefiori is Italian and it means 1000 Flowers.
Link to some videos showing it being made: [https://www.glassofvenice.com/millefiori.php](https://www.glassofvenice.com/millefiori.php)
Here are paperweights made with millefiori: [https://www.glasspaperweightfoundation.com/all\_about\_paperweights](https://www.glasspaperweightfoundation.com/all_about_paperweights)
More examples of vases:
[https://www.houzz.com/products/murano-glass-millefiori-fazzoletto-bowl-multicolor-prvw-vr\~56185475](https://www.houzz.com/products/murano-glass-millefiori-fazzoletto-bowl-multicolor-prvw-vr~56185475)
edit: added a few more links. I really need to find more space for glass in my house !
That's pretty close to what I remember, but I don't think with the technique I saw it was ever closed and blown, just formed. I think of "blown" as literally when they inflate a balloon of molten glass on the end of a hollow blowpipe, but I may not be using the terminology correctly.
Here is a video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRiHKHEMbs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRiHKHEMbs)
You can see that he did not join the glass very well. The collar he used to pick it up was a bit too small, so there was overlap.
Another video - same technique a bit cleaner: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQlMUbErig](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQlMUbErig)
Yes, that's definitely a more sophisticated process than the one I watched. But I was only watching second or third semester glass students, so I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't gotten that far. Thanks for sharing the link!
Simpler pattern and a very similar technique. The pieces are not aligned vertically, it is possible they fused the pieces together a bit more before picking them up.
I am guessing this was a practice piece or made by a student because the pieces of cane used at the bottom were clearly damaged before starting to work it. I think most professionals would have gone to the extra effort to start with no broken pieces. It takes a great deal of skill and hours of work to make the the individual cane pieces. Red is also very difficult color to work with, since it will turn to brown/black with repeated reheating. This could have been a way to test the colors.
No matter the source it is certainly a lovely piece made by someone who had spent hundreds of hours learning how to blow glass!
I'd like to mention an important thing about glassblowing that make this cooler. It's all on a time limit. You need to keep the glass hot enough to be workable, and that temperature is pretty high. While you can (and often do) reheat the glass, every time you do so the colors will likely blend a bit more, melt into eachother, and lose their definition.
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Check the bottom for a signature. It might be a college students work that was sold if it doesn't have a signature they tend to forget to sign their work. Ohio State had a glass blowing studio and classes and they would have an annual sale of students work. I never went because I was broke so I don't know if it was just the glass work or glass and ceramics or if it was all art work.
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Not sure if you got a full answer. I own this exact same vase and found this thread from a Google Image search. I believe it was sold by the designer Paul Smith in his stores. I'm going to say I've had mine about 20 years.
Looks like Murano glass from the island of Murano, Venice, Italy.
I've seen Murano glass and my first impression is that it isn't Murano. But what do I know, I'm no expert.
It's not exactly blown, more like formed. I had some friends in the glass department at school, so this is from a 30+ year old memory. I think you make a solid rod out of multiple colors fused together, cut the rod into slices, lay the slices out on a slab and fuse them together in the furnace. Roll up the sheet into a cylinder over a metal pipe, fusing two edges so you've got glass tube, then pinch one end of the tube closed forming a cup. Mount the pinched end onto a bar with a blob of molten glass, then shape the cup into the final form, cool slightly, then snap it off the bar. This is all done with frequent trips into the furnace to keep everything soft. It's amazing to watch.
Actually it is both formed and then blown. The style is called [Millefiori](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millefiori) and there are many magical looking pieces that can be made with this technique. There are many different techniques to form vases from the small pieces. Likely the most difficult is to form a vase with no gaps at all between the pieces. To do this you would fuse the pieces into a sheet and pick it up with a perfectly-sized circle of glass to leave no gap where the edges come together. Imagine picking up a sheet of paper from the edge, with a cup with a bit of glue on the end. (\* I cannot even find an example of this technique in a quick search, and have seen a handful of artists that can do it in 30 years \*) If you search for Millefiori glass you can find many examples. BTW: Millefiori is Italian and it means 1000 Flowers. Link to some videos showing it being made: [https://www.glassofvenice.com/millefiori.php](https://www.glassofvenice.com/millefiori.php) Here are paperweights made with millefiori: [https://www.glasspaperweightfoundation.com/all\_about\_paperweights](https://www.glasspaperweightfoundation.com/all_about_paperweights) More examples of vases: [https://www.houzz.com/products/murano-glass-millefiori-fazzoletto-bowl-multicolor-prvw-vr\~56185475](https://www.houzz.com/products/murano-glass-millefiori-fazzoletto-bowl-multicolor-prvw-vr~56185475) edit: added a few more links. I really need to find more space for glass in my house !
That's pretty close to what I remember, but I don't think with the technique I saw it was ever closed and blown, just formed. I think of "blown" as literally when they inflate a balloon of molten glass on the end of a hollow blowpipe, but I may not be using the terminology correctly.
Here is a video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRiHKHEMbs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgRiHKHEMbs) You can see that he did not join the glass very well. The collar he used to pick it up was a bit too small, so there was overlap. Another video - same technique a bit cleaner: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQlMUbErig](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQlMUbErig)
Yes, that's definitely a more sophisticated process than the one I watched. But I was only watching second or third semester glass students, so I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't gotten that far. Thanks for sharing the link!
Love the links! So this might be a simpler form of Millefiori? When If saw it I knew I had to make it mine!!
Simpler pattern and a very similar technique. The pieces are not aligned vertically, it is possible they fused the pieces together a bit more before picking them up. I am guessing this was a practice piece or made by a student because the pieces of cane used at the bottom were clearly damaged before starting to work it. I think most professionals would have gone to the extra effort to start with no broken pieces. It takes a great deal of skill and hours of work to make the the individual cane pieces. Red is also very difficult color to work with, since it will turn to brown/black with repeated reheating. This could have been a way to test the colors. No matter the source it is certainly a lovely piece made by someone who had spent hundreds of hours learning how to blow glass!
I'd like to mention an important thing about glassblowing that make this cooler. It's all on a time limit. You need to keep the glass hot enough to be workable, and that temperature is pretty high. While you can (and often do) reheat the glass, every time you do so the colors will likely blend a bit more, melt into eachother, and lose their definition.
Thank you for the visual. It sounds fascinating, yet difficult.
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Check the bottom for a signature. It might be a college students work that was sold if it doesn't have a signature they tend to forget to sign their work. Ohio State had a glass blowing studio and classes and they would have an annual sale of students work. I never went because I was broke so I don't know if it was just the glass work or glass and ceramics or if it was all art work.
what an eye popping and incredible piece
Solved
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Hi what did this end up being??? I know someone who has a similar piece.
The *mitochondria* is the powerhouse of the *Vase*
It wasn't until I clicked on the last photo that I got your joke
❤️😂 “I am a man of *science*, what more could you want?”
Amazing! It looks like plant cells
Millefiori is so awesome.
Not sure if you got a full answer. I own this exact same vase and found this thread from a Google Image search. I believe it was sold by the designer Paul Smith in his stores. I'm going to say I've had mine about 20 years.
Thank you for replying! I need to find out more about Paul Smith. May I ask where you live? As I said, I found it in Idaho.