italian millefiori lamp

Millefiori Glass

Millefiori Glass

The Italian meaning of “millefiori” is a thousand flowers. This type of beautifully patterned glass has been made for centuries. 

This unique process produces distinctive patterns on glass when the glass is blown. Visit an antique shop and look at the vintage lamps. You may see a great example of colorful millefiori glass shades. Another great example of millefiori is in paperweights. They were often made with a distinctive pattern that looks like cut flowers made by cutting rolled glass rods into beads and placed into clear glass forms. Glass beads, too can be made from these glass rods, for jewelry. 

The Murano Glass company in Venice, Italy is famous for its millefiori glass.