Giuseppe Lorenzo Briati

Place: Murano

Born: 1686

Death: 1772

Biography:

Giuseppe Lorenzo Briati was born in Murano, Italy in 1686. He was born into a family of glassmakers and learned the craft from a young age. In 1733, Briati moved to Bohemia where he learned the secrets of crystal glassmaking. He returned to Venice in 1737 and obtained a privilege from the Council of X to produce crystal glassware for ten years. Briati opened a furnace in Murano, but it was attacked by envious glassmakers in 1739. He was forced to move his activities to Venice, where he opened a furnace in the parish of Angiolo Rafaello. Briati's crystal glassware was highly prized and he was granted permission to transfer his furnace to the Carmelite district in 1739. He died in Venice in 1772.