Oral Histories from Murano Glassmaking: Craft, Tradition and Transformation

Murano has historically been one of the most important handicraft districts in Italy due to its tradition of glassmaking, giving rise to a unique local economy and highly specialised workers. While art historians have made numerous contributions to the study of this reality, less active have been scholars of economic history, business and management. With rare exceptions, the existing literature lacks an investigation of the factory, processes and workforce behind the creation of value in this ancient production tradition. Characterised as a work of oral history, this book is a prosopography based on the stories of four witnesses in various historic glassmaking factories, recorded through a series of long and repeated interviews.

The aim is not to provide an exhaustive description of the dynamics of glass making, but rather to offer an interpretation of certain aspects of the field through the experiences and reflections of people who have worked in it for a long time. This book puts the stories, as told by witnesses, at the centre, inverting the traditional role between collection and restitution of data that usually characterizes academic publications. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of crafts and creative industry studies, business history and organisation studies, as well as all those with an interest in Murano glass.