Collection: Mandruzzato (Murano, Italy)

Mandruzzato is a family glassmaking business founded on the island of Murano, Italy, in 1934 by Beniamino Mandruzzato. Its history spans four generations, with glassworking knowledge passed from Beniamino to his son Luigi, then to Gianfranco and Alessandro Mandruzzato.

The family is known for its sculptural approach to glass, particularly bold geometric forms, angular profiles and carefully polished facets. Luigi and Gianfranco developed this direction through their work, and the family's official history records projects for artists including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Max Ernst through the Fucina degli Angeli furnace. Geometric designs such as San Marco became an enduring part of the Mandruzzato repertoire.

Central to the family's craft is the cold-working of glass through cutting, grinding and polishing. The workshop describes a multi-stage process using diamond saws and grinding wheels, followed by edge finishing and polishing with cork wheels and pumice powder. These techniques create the crisp planes and reflective surfaces characteristic of its faceted pieces.

Alessandro Mandruzzato continues the family tradition as its fourth generation. After training in the family workshop and undertaking specialist study, he established himself as an independent sculptor in 2000. His work combines inherited glassworking techniques with a contemporary approach, including designs that bring Murano glass together with wood, stainless steel and precious metals.

Read more about Mandruzzato's family history and glassworking techniques.