People collect anything, from antique bedpans to beer caps, from stamps to diamonds. Collecting is a passion, and once people get the bug, they become quite obsessed with the objects of their desires. Collecting Murano glass, particularly glass figurines, is one of such passions, quite popular in fact, and the collectors come from all walks of life: from ultra-rich to little girls who got their first Murano glass fish and wanted more.
Why people collect? It is a bit like falling in love: an obsession, often accompanied with lack of common sense and realism, an ever-consuming passion that, once in place, does not go away. Some people collect only one thing, and go about it systematically, trying to get as complete collection they can, or they can afford. Other collects anything. The first group consists of real collectors, the second of pack rats, who probably need therapy.
Some people got themselves into the poor house to satisfy their collecting passion, other became rich. Because collecting is so popular, collectibles sometimes reach very high prizes. The problem is that, even when a collection piece is very valuable and could turn into a lot of cash, the collector often has problem parting with it.
Murano glass figurines are highly collectible, and some collections are world known. One of the most famous Murano glass collections belongs to Nancy Olnic and Giorgio Spanu and it contains 293 pieces of breathtakingly beautiful pieces of Murano glass from 40 artists. The collection is relatively contemporary and the art pieces, particularly glass figurines, are the Murano glass at its very best. Somehow, the artwork manages to be contemporary and still uniquely Murano, representing the essence of what is most beautiful about Venice and the lagoon that surrounds it.
Collectors that do not have the budget and resources of Ms. Olnic and Mr. Spanu should not despair. Murano glass figurines are now so popular and famous that they are easily available all over the world, especially on the internet.
The high demand for Murano glass figurines created a market that tries to satisfy the demand by mass-producing copies of Murano glass, mostly in China and Brazil. To counteract this attempt, and to keep the high quality of the Murano glass, Murano glass producers started printed a