Hello from London. A little help?

[jpgetty2win]

hi everyone

so pleased Ive found a forum for Murano glass! Ive had a love Murano glass for many years but just never knew what it was called! Ive spent ages trying to find pieces on the internet to finally put a name to the beautiful glass items that ive fallen in love with. youd be amazed at how difficult it is to find something on the internet when you dont know what its called haha!
BUT, Ive recently discovered its called Murano Glass, and cant wait to start a real collection of them.

I will be purchasing for aesthetic reasons but also for investment reasons. I will purchase pieces (for not toooo much money) that I just LIKE but have no investment potential, but I also understand it would be silly to just buy lots of beautiful items that are going to lose me money in the future..

So, if anyones got any advice on where to start in collecting Murano glass for investment (partiacular families/companies i should look for? est to purchase the 1950/60's items instead of the new items?), or maybe point me in the direction of a recommended book that would help me, I would appreciate it alot. I am willing to put in as much hard work as is needed to fulfill my collection over a lifetime. :)

My budget for each piece is probably going to be about £150-£200 at this point in time, but I will obviously expand that budget when my financial situation changes over time.

Thank you all very much for reading my post and look forward in getting to know you all.

regards

jp

[TxSilver]

Hi, jp, and welcome! Murano glass is a great thing to collect because you can enjoy looking at it -- much better than stocks right now. Probably the best thing to do is to decide which artists you like and to invest in books to learn to spot the good pieces. A good general primer is Leslie Pina's Italian Glass, Century 20. There are other excellent books that you can buy when you know which artists interest you most.

There are many excellent sites on the internet that are free -- great resources. One of my favorites is Marina Barovier's gallery at http://www.barovier.it/. I like the section on XXth Century glass. There is glass from many of the great makers. Another of my favorite sites is the Olnick-Spanu collection at http://www.olnickspanu.com/Collection.html. Most of these pieces are beyond most people's budgets, but it gives an idea about the look of treasure. Sometimes one can find treasure in inexpensive places.

There are so many good sites, I could go on all night. I wouldn't want to overwhelm, though. There is a thread on internet sites on Fossilfly that I think you'll find helpful

Again, welcome. I hope you enjoy the group.

[fossilfly]

Welcome to the forums! My only advice is that a limited budget in the beginning is actually a positive, rather than a negative. It forces you to be picky, do your research, and search for value. Its a great time to be buying glass, so good luck!

[annie04bell]

Hi - following is quite a few sites that I use at different times. I will be in the UK in Sept/Oct and going to a few car boot sales and find that special piece!!!

http://wvmag.bglances.com/sites.htm
http://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia_home.htm http://www.moltabellaglass.com/
http://www.design-and-arts.com/en/show-products.php?category=15
http://www.gardnerandbarr.com/
http://www.trocadero.com/
http://www.great-glass.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.muranoclowns.co.uk/index.html
http://www.olnickspanu.com/Artists/Radi.html
http://www.boglewood.com/murano/producers/avem.html
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/index.php?PHPSESSID=5596768c7381df700c4a0a962f0398 bd
http://gambaroepoggiglass.com/index.php
http://www.venetian-glass.info/foundries3.php
http://www.the-loschs.com/index.html
http://www.muranoglass.com/murano/eng/Marchio%20Vetro%20Artistico%20Murano-Home.htm

TX Silver has the Murano Zoo site and it is my favourite - http://sites.google.com/site/muranozoo/

[fossilfly]

Thanks for sharing and posting your reference site, I will add them to the "Murano Sites" thread.