Murano-Style | Millefiori Art Glass | Pig Figurine | Cobalt Blue & Clear | Vintage

Every millefiori cane tells its own story — embedded in the glass before the form even begins.

The millefiori technique — literally "thousand flowers" — is among the most labour-intensive processes in the Venetian glassmaking tradition. Individual canes of coloured glass are built up in cross-section to form floral and geometric patterns, then sliced into wafer-thin sections and embedded into molten clear glass before the object is shaped. The result is a surface in which each flower or starburst motif is permanently suspended within the body of the piece, visible from every angle. The tradition has its roots in ancient Roman glassmaking but was revived and perfected on the island of Murano from the fifteenth century onwards, and continues to be practised today. Animal figurines incorporating millefiori are among the most characterful expressions of the technique — the glassblower must shape a recognisable form around a body of already-complex internal patterning, working quickly against the cooling glass.

This pig figurine is built around a clear glass body with millefiori cane sections embedded into one face — the display side — set against an internal ground of yellow and cobalt blue glass. The millefiori sections are densely packed and well-defined, revealing concentric rings, starbursts, flower heads and heart motifs in red, white, yellow, blue and black. The reverse and upper body present the clear glass with the internal cobalt and dark colour swirling through from within, giving a markedly different appearance from each side — jewel-patterned from the front, deep and translucent from behind. The head, ears and tail are formed in solid cobalt blue glass applied to the clear body. The snout is rounded and bulbous with applied nostril dots; the ears are large, flat and ribbed, spreading broadly outward from either side of the head and constituting a significant element of the overall silhouette. The tail is a neat cobalt blue spiral curl at the rump. The four legs are formed in clear glass. The eyes are applied white and dark glass dots.

Condition is perfect. No chips, cracks or damage to any element including the ear tips, snout, tail curl and legs.

Key Details

• Maker | Unattributed — Murano-style millefiori art glass, Venetian tradition
• Pattern | Millefiori — densely packed cane sections on display face in red, yellow, blue, white and black; concentric rings, starbursts, flower heads and heart motifs set against internal yellow and cobalt blue ground; reverse presents deep translucent cobalt and clear glass
• Shape | Standing pig — clear millefiori body, applied cobalt blue head with large ribbed spreading ears, rounded bulbous snout, cobalt spiral tail, clear glass legs
• Backstamp | None — unsigned, consistent with Murano-style decorative glass of this type
• Pieces | 1
• Material | Hand-worked art glass — clear glass body with embedded millefiori canes and applied cobalt blue elements
• Period | Vintage — precise date unconfirmed
• Decoration | Dense millefiori cane work on display face; internal yellow and cobalt blue ground visible through clear glass body; applied cobalt blue head, ears and tail; applied glass eyes
• Dimensions | Height 4cm | Length 6.8cm | Width 4cm | Weight 39g
• Gilding | None
• Condition | Perfect. No chips, cracks or damage. All applied elements fully intact.
• Buyer profile | Collector of Murano and Venetian art glass; collector of glass animal figurines; buyer seeking a small decorative object with strong visual presence; gift buyer

Glass heated, shaped, cooled — and somewhere inside, a thousand flowers held still.