Autumn of 2008
20 February 2009
During the autumn of 2008 we were kept busy with the restoration of some very special glass drops.
In the 1960’s the chandeliers originally produced by Venini on the Venetian
island
of
Murano
were commissioned for the Terminal One departure hall at
Manchester
Airport
.
Jackie Neville at
Manchester
Airport
explained the importance of the chandeliers to us and that they are a part of the airport’s heritage, therefore it was imperative that the restoration of the chandelier for The World of Glass was carried out with this understanding and using our knowledge and expertise.
We carefully unpacked the old wooden crates containing the vast amount of large impressive Venini glass rods and drops and spent hours, days and weeks cleaning away the dust of many years with great care and attention, to reveal the splendour of each hand-blown piece.
Then the drops had to be left to dry, then polished. Afterwards a steel cable was threaded through each one and attached with a ferrule. Once this process was completed, our team of experts packed the drops to go on their northbound journey.
The framework had already been installed when we arrived in St Helen’s. The day was spent hanging all the drops in the necessary order and, finally, we could see the result of our work: The magnificent chandelier with a cascade of hand-blown drops in clear and colours of smoke, purple and green, lovingly restored to its former glory and hanging in a new home in The World of Glass.
Further Reading:
www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/chandeliers
www.worldofglass.com/chandelier.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7871032.stm
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1094579_museum_houses_airports_chandelier