"Born in Murano, Italy in 1912, under a long history of glassmaking families tracing back to 1658, Alfredo Barbini began his own career in 1925. He has been widely recognized as one of Murano's leading figures of the 20th century.
"Barbini glass is highly known for their thick facade with crackling, bubbles and it's highly skilled submersion method, which are the traditional Murano techniques. The Massello technique (A technique in which glass is stretched, molded and fused, allowing multiple pieces to be joined without seams) is particularly made famous by the Murano glassmakers. It started as a method used in a specialized production of ornaments made from a single block of glass. While producing these ornaments, Alfredo Barbini perfected this technique and made it his very own, known as "submersion" (vetro sommerso) method, which he strongly favors as his signature style. This technique plays on the thickness, transparency and tone of the superimposed colors or placing of pre-prepared objects inside the glass mass. It takes a highly skilled master glassmaker to do this without a seam. Barbini is famous for his skill in making the fusing point of the glass masses non-existent."
- from Barbini's biography www.koru-hk.com
