A Master glass-blower, “Mylight”, supplies Villa Barone

Villa le Barone, Tuscany: romantic  candlelight dinner on the terrace
Villa le Barone, Tuscany: romantic candlelight dinner on the terrace

It is in Montelupo Fiorentino in Tuscany that Villa Barone bought, to illuminate its terraces, globes for its lanterns from a Master glass-blower, “Mylight”. Certainly our guests do not know all the work that goes behind those globes!

They are nine glass-blower working under the guidance of a Master glass-blower, who maintains the craft tradition of manufacturing lightings and other blown glass objects, a technique which appeared in the 1st century AD. “Mylight” produces components for chandeliers, lamps and ceiling fixtures and works for leading architects and designers. They also produce several design objects for decoration.

Master Glass blower at work at "Mylight"
Master Glass blower at work at “Mylight”

Seeing the production of these objects is most interesting: first the “ blowpipe” which is usually made of iron or steel and measures about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, is dipped into the furnace and comes out with a gob of molten color glass on the end, called the “parison”. The cane is then transmitted to a molder who introduces the gob in a mold, blowing and turning it to give it the final shape. The object is then detached from the cane by a slight shock and placed in a long furnace where it will cool slowly for about two hours, a process to prevent the glass from breaking.

Some objects are unique and are produced entirely without molding, such as the large cup which can be seen in the restaurant of Villa Barone, (see photo), or like the fish that was done in front of us: the Master glassblower rolled the glass ball (gob) on the “marver”, a metal flat surface to even it up. He then blew into the vitreous mass through the cane and renewed the operation several times after successive warmings. He finally shaped the fish (see photo) with scissors and several other tools, adding eyes, fins, tail… before passing through the cooling furnace.

Manufactured products are then taken to the workshop for completion where they will be cut, filed, checked and packed: Destination Italy but also the United States, Dubai…

Villa le Barone, in Chianti: the restaurant , with a cup made at "Mylight"
Villa le Barone, in Chianti: the restaurant , with a cup made at “Mylight”

Villa le Barone, a historic hotel, is proud to work with craftsmen like those of “Mylight”. Certainly our Guests do not suspect all the work behind these lanterns globes! Ourselves, we now see them differently! We feel that ”Mylight“ (mylight@live.it) would be most happy to have Villa le Barone’s guests visiting them!
Visit « MyLight » on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mylight-srl/441087566008135