If you go to any large museum you will see examples of antique Murano glass vases and antique Murano glass paperweights as the Murano glass has its roots in Italy reportedly from the ninth century onwards. For centuries the Italian glass blowing community was concentrated on the island of Murano and the quantities and qualities of their glass has waxed and waned for as long as there were glass blowing on this island. The glassblowing furnaces were concentrated on the island just outside of Venice because of fear that the furnaces would ignite the mainly wooden structures that existed. This allowed a concentration of artists and talent which showed in the finished products.

Murano's glass making community held a monopoly for centuries. The artisans developed new and innovative techniques like millefiori where many colors of glass canes were fused and resulted in the look of many small flowers. Some of the more famous antique Murano glass paperweights use this technique. Millefiori literally means a thousand flowers. This technique, among others, is still popular today.

One of the problems faced today by fanciers of antique Murano glass vases and antique Murano glass paperweights is counterfeiting. Like everything else it seems to be under attack as someone can fake art objects and flood a market with knockoffs. The problem is not that there are these products out there as usually they can be separated from the originals with a close examination, but that they are being sold as the real thing.

During the last century there has been a resurgence of glass producers from Murano and Italian Murano is available as a modern product. There are many artisans operating off the island of Murano, bringing back a tradition of centuries and combining the traditions with some modern techniques and materials. There is not mistaking the quality of these products though and are readily available as a retail product.