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Acidato: see Satinato. 

Ad incalmo: A technique used to join two different colors or techniques of glass. Each part of the technique is blown separately, then the glass bubble of each is pierced so that each part can be joined at the newly made rims. The diameters of each part need to be the same size for the technique to be executed.

Alabastro: translates to alabaster. Adding chemicals to the glass to imitate alabaster stone. This creates an appearance that is translucent. Similar to opalino/opalescent glass, but it is different.

Avventurina: chemically derived copper-colored particles within glass. Not to be confused with gold powders/dust, known as polveri d’oro. Related term: aventurine

Balloton: When a molten glass gather is blown into a mold leaving a repeating diamond-shaped pattern on the surface.

Battuto: Translates to pounded or beaten. Where the surface of the glass is cut/faceted to produced a hammered design similar to hammered metal objects.

A bolle: translates to “with bubbles.” Often used when referring to moderately sized, and larger, controlled bubbles. Also see Bullicante. 

Bollicine: Pulegoso bubbles that are cased or submerged to have a smooth surface. 

Bullicante: refers to the controlled execution of air bubbles within a wall of glass. This technique utilizes a mold with an even pattern of spikes by where molten glass is placed on top or inside. The spikes pierce the molten glass and leave a tiny air bubble. The molten glass with these captured air bubbles can then be blown and shaped into the desired form. This technique can be seen in both thin and thick walled glass. Note: if the pattern of bubbles is random, then it is not bullicante. 

Calcedonio: Glass that is marbled with various colors. Made to resemble chalcedony and other semiprecious stones.

A canne: straight glass canes laid parallel to each other. These parallel canes can then be spirally deformed to encircle a piece of glass. The glassblower can also evenly distort the canes to provide a “zigzag” type pattern called “a trina.” Some designers and furnaces used the term “1/2 Filigrana” to describe a simple “a canne” technique, because it is ½ of the “filigrana a reticello” technique, but that is accepted as being technically incorrect terminology. Dino Martens for Vetreria Aureliano Toso frequently used the term ½ Filigrana.

Colori sfumati: this technique refers to the gradual lightening of a color as a glass mass is blown. As the glass is blown out, it is thinned so the color appears lighter. Molds can be used to keep one part of the glass gather thicker (and dark in color) while the other end is blown thinner (and lighter in color). Think of this technique as creating a color gradient. Multiple colors can be involved and you can gradually shade from one color to another with varying darkness levels of each.

Corroso: translates to “corroded.” This technique requires the glass object to be covered in a layer of wax, then covered in sawdust, then placed into a vat of hydrofluoric acid to degrade, or eat away at, the surface in an uneven fashion. The result is a rough surface with varying levels of unevenness. This technique is not used anymore due to the toxic effects of the hydrofluoric acid.

Costolato: translates to ribbed. To achieve a ribbed surface, a glass gather is blown into or inserted into a ribbed mold. The ribbed surface can be further blown out, twisted, or distorted to soften or modify the appearance. Related term: rigadin

Cristallo: refers to clear glass resembling colorless rock crystal

Fenicio: This technique applies glass threads to a surface and with the use of a pointed tool the threads are combed up or down to achieve the feather-like effect. Related terms are combed or pulled feather. 

Filigrana a Reticello: also known as simply Reticello. Sometimes referred to as “double filigree.” Where straight canes are overlaid perpendicularly to produce a diamond design with a tiny air bubble trapped in the center of the diamond. The straight canes can be lattimo, colored, or aventurine in composition. An alternative use to straight canes is the use of filigrana a retortoli/Zanfirico canes. This alternative use can be seen in a series by Paolo Venini in the 1950s. 

Filigrana a Retortoli: translated to filigree. Straight canes that are bundled and then twisted to produce one detailed cane. Parallel groupings of these canes are then fused flat and blown into a final object. The composition of a filigrana a retortoli cane is almost endless. They can possess multiple colors as well as aventurine. The related term of Zanfirico was derived in the 19th century and can be used interchangeably. See Zanfirico for details.

Filo: A strand, filament, or thread of glass. Threads of glass can be embedded into the surface via casing or placed on top.

Foglia d’argento: literal sheets of silver foil that are placed onto the surface of the glass when molten and often blown out further to expand, or shatter, the foil sheet apart. Often silver foil is cased or submerged in another layer of glass to protect it. If left open and exposed to air, it will oxidize and turn dark. It can also be scratched or washed off if not protected.

Foglia d’oro: literal sheets of gold foil that are placed onto the surface of the glass when molten and often blown out further to expand, or shatter, the foil sheet apart. Often, the gold foil is cased or submerged in another layer of glass to protect it. If left open, the gold foil can be scratched or washed off.

Ghiaccio: translates to ice. Refers to a purposeful cracked or crackled surface that was achieved by placing the molten glass object into water. The crackled glass can then be fired to soften the surface making it less sharp but leaving it uneven, or cased/submerged to make it smooth to the touch but allowing the design to still show through.

Girasol: Translates to sunflower. Refers to milky white opalescent glass. Commonly used in the early twentieth century and prior. When held up to light, the opalescent glass has an orange or peachy tone. If you have a piece of opalescent white glass from this period, it would be more correct to use Girasol than Opalino/Opalescent to describe it.

Incamiciato: Translates to jacketed. Also known as cased glass. It is where thin layers of glass are overlaid for a desired effect. Commonly, the base layer of glass will be lattimo (opaque white) and a layer of transparent colored glass will be cased overtop so the end result has the look of opaque colored glass. There can be numerous layers of glass and gold or silver leaf can be incorporated. 

Inciso: A cold engraving technique where the surface of the glass is very finely cut with small hash-like marks. This technique creates a matte and textured look.

Induto: see Sommerso.

Iridato: translates to iridescent. This is where a glass object is exposed to chemicals to give a rainbow-like shimmer to the surface. The degree to which the technique is executed can keep the surface shiny and smooth or it can make the surface look a bit matte or cloudy and give it some slight texture. Related term: irisé 

Irisé: see iridato

Latticino: a made up term not used in glassblowing. Do not use when describing glass. See terms filigrana a retortoli and Zanfirico for correct terminology. 

Lattimo: Opaque milky white glass

A Macchie: a technique by where glass shards are melted into the molten glass surface creating an abstracted motif. The glass shards can be small (frit) or large, and everywhere in between, depending on the desired effect. 

Mezza filigrana: Also known as “half-filigrana” or “half-filigree.” Essentially, this is a basic “a canne” technique. Some furnaces use this term to refer to a very fine, small diameter, “a canne” application. The term can be confusing, as no twisting of individual or bundles of canes occurs. The parallel canes can be twisted or distorted to create a desired effect but remain parallel to each other. Related term: vetro a fili.

Mezza Stampura: an ancient technique where a blown gather of glass is placed into a ribbed mold so only a portion of the resulting glass article has this ribbed design. 

Morise: Plural morisa. Refers to a glass thread that has been pinched or tooled into a desired pattern. Commonly, morise is found at the base of an applied handle attached to the body of the article and integral with the handle. 

Murrine: Plural murrina. Refers to slices of glass canes where the cross-section has a design that is presented. The glass canes could be made with glass rods of various colors and done in purposeful patterns so when you slice the cane and look at the cross-section you will see the intended design. This flat cane section is then used in glassblowing within the walls of an object.

Opalino: translates to opaline. Adding chemicals to the glass to create a semi-opaque, or translucent, appearance. Related term, opalescent.

Pasta Vitrea: This glass technique adds a significant amount of pigments and opacifiers to the transparent base glass to achieve solid opaque glass. Sometimes the finished objects will be left with a slightly uneven surface consisting of small and random open air-bubbles. Pasta Vitrea was popular in the 1930s, but it was very difficult to work with and had issues annealing properly so only a select few furnaces utilized this technique.

Polveri: colored glass powders/fragments applied to molten glass to create a desired colored effect. The glass powders melt into the molten surface. Aventurine and gold powders can also be used. 

Prunt: A decoration type where a blob of glass is placed onto the surface of an object. Sometimes, the glass blob has a design pressed into it.

Pulegoso: frothy, uneven bubbles caused by the introduction of certain chemicals that result in an opaque look with an uneven surface. The individual bubbles in this technique are called puleghe. This technique was devised by Napoleone Martinuzzi while designing for VSM Venini & C. 

Satinado: This technique uses sandblasting or chemicals to degrade the glass surface in an even, consistent fashion. It differs from corroso in that the degradation of the surface is very regular and often very soft to the touch. Related term: satin glass. 

Soffiato: refers to light blown glass

Sommerso: Translates to submerged. Where a gather of glass is covered, or submerged, in a layer of another type or color of glass. Sommerso is sometimes referred to as thick casing. Incamiciato and Sommerso are related and the accepted difference is that incamiciato is thin casing and sommerso is thick casing, but you will often see these terms used interchangeably in original source documentation. The term “induto” has the same meaning and you would use it when saying a technique was covered in a thick layer of glass. Example: “pulegoso induto” indicates that pulegoso bubbles were submerged in a thick layer of transparent colorless (implied) glass.

Vetro: translates to glass. Plural is vetri. 

Vetro Pesante: translates to heavy glass. Also refers to thick glass.

Zanfirico: also see Filigrana. Zanfirico is another term for filigrana a retortoli canes. It was derived in the 19th century as a result of an antique dealer named Antonio Sanquirico fraudulently selling newly commissioned filigrana glass as true antiques. The pieces he was selling were executed so well that filigrana a retortoli canes would be referred to as Zanfirico canes, a derivative of his surname Sanquirico. This name has stuck ever since.