Pulegoso

Glass with a spongy appearence, with lots of air bubbles, so much that it appears almost opaque.

The inventor was Napoleone Martinuzzi , the art director at Venini & C . in the late 20s. It is easier to make than it would appear. Murano legend is rich in fantastic tales for the use of unwary tourists: in the case of pulegoso glass, the story had it that the most extraordinary substances were used to get this result.
In actual fact, the homogeneous and refined molten mass (with no air bubbles or impurities) is vigorously mixed in with salts (generally sodium carbonate or bicarbonate) that decompose due to the heat and released gases (carbon dioxide) dispersed in the form of bubbles having vary diameters.

The first vases made by Venini with this new material were hailed by the critics who saw Murano glass industry rising up again with products that were an excellent representation of the "Novecento" style of the 30s.
On the wave of this success, several other furnaces used pulegoso glass, even in the field of lighting.
The firms of A.V.E.M. , Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C. , Seguso Vetri d'Arte and others went on producing vases, figures and the famous cactuses. During the 50s Dino Martens made the famous "pittorici" vases for the firm of Aureliano Toso .

The fortune of this type of glass went on with the creations by Gae Aulenti for Venini & Co., dated 1995.