The millefiori rod is a hollow or solid rod composed on the inside of concentric layers of glass in different colors which form, in section, a characteristic star of flower motif. Its production requires a number of open molds which press a star or flower pattern on each successive colored layer, after which the rod is pulled out dozens of meters.
A distinct type of millefiori rod is the rosetta, which dates from the XVth century and presents characteristic star motifs in white, red and blue glass in alternate layers.
The rod in generally cut into sections, which are often called murrine. If the rod is hollow, the sections may be smoothed and become beads. Solid sections may also be laid side by side and fused in the kiln to make pendants, or on a larger scale, dishes or bowls. The sections of millefiori rod also constitute the modular decorative element, fused to the bottom of a small hemispheric mass of crystal, for paperweights.MURRINO GLASSThis is a very ancient technique independent of glassblowing, and which consists in the composition of a multicolor glass slab, obtained by fusing together different colored glass tesserae or sections of polychrome rods, even rosetta rods. The slab may then be kiln-shaped by placing it onto a mold made of refractory clay. It may also be gathered with the blowpipe and shaped as desired into the form of a vessel.
