Saturday, January 1, 2011

Moretti Magnificence



I when I embarked on my trip to Europe last summer knew I would have to pick up some more glass trickets from Venice. Mille Flora is on display everywhere on the island — that rather busy-looking glass made from bundling together extruded glass rods that is then sliced up like a roll cake to reveal a detailed pattern. The process is used to make everything from necklaces and earrings to plates and vases, and frankly, most of it is downright ugly. Predominantly blue and white in color with red accents, the decorative motif overpowers any form or shape of the object itself.

But the stuff from Ercole Moretti, a local studio/designhouse/manufacturer, is markedly different in three distinct ways. Their designs are simpler, less flowery, more modern in shape; They use a sophisticated, more-muted color palette including a fair amount of black; and all their items have a wonderful matte finish, in sharp contrast to the usual gaudy glass baubles. This small dish, about 5 inches square is the finest piece I saw on the entire Island of Murano — the "Glass-Making Island" — which I promptly purchased as a gift for my girlfriend. I love the color pallete — the warm yellows and greens — and the primitive circlar shapes, the random arrangement of the bunches of color, all the while looking very contemporary.

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