Compagnia di Venezia e Murano

Compagnia di Venezia e Murano was a design and manufacturing firm, active circa 1850, known for its high-quality production and design work related to Venetian glass. Specializing in decorative arts and glassware, the firm’s surviving works primarily document the preliminary stages of industrial and artistic production.

The historical record of Compagnia di Venezia e Murano is largely preserved through preparatory drawings detailing intricate designs for functional and decorative objects. These studies illustrate the meticulous planning involved in creating large-scale glass objects like chandeliers and mirrors, alongside smaller items such as goblets.

Fifteen drawings by the Compagnia di Venezia e Murano are represented in prominent museum collections. All are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. These works are cataloged under titles such as One of Twenty-Three Sheets of Drawings of Glassware (Mirrors, Chandeliers, Goblets, etc.), documenting the extensive nature of the design archives preserved by the institution.

These rare technical illustrations, considered museum-quality historical artifacts, provide essential insight into 19th-century glass manufacturing techniques. As items held in major institutional collections, many of these design documents are available in the public domain, making high-quality prints accessible for scholarly research and study of decorative arts history.