Crystal Glass (Cristallo)

• Traditional Venetian glass blowers practice their craft.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
  
  The world's first colorless crystal glass was made by a master glassmaker of Murano, Angelo Barovier, who was given the exclusive right in 1457 to produce this new kind of blown glass. The lightness and purity of the crystal were achieved by using manganese to decolorize Venetian sodium glass.
  
  

Ice Glass (Ghiaccio)

• Frosted --or "ice" -- glass was introduced in 1570 and remained popular until the 18th century. The technique involved soaking glass paste in ice water before shaping the object under high heat; the temperature difference created the cracked ice effect.
  
  

Milk Glass (Lattimo)

• This glass is patterned after the luminous blanc de chine porcelain that was produced at the time in China. It is made by mixing glass paste and tin oxide, which adds an opaque finish to the glass. It was prevalent from the last decades of the 15th century to the early decades of the 16th century.
  
  

Gilt Glass (Avventurina)

• Beginning in the early part of the 17th century, avventurina translucent glass was made by mixing copper particles with glass paste before blowing the item with a rod, creating a gilt effect. It is said to have been created by accident, from which came its name from the Italian "ventura," meaning fortune or chance.
  
  

Opalescent Glass (Girasol)

• This translucent or opaque glassware acquires its opalescent finish when tin lime is combined with glass paste. It was introduced in small bottles and stemware in the middle of the 17th century.
  
  

Murrine (Millefiori)

• Colorful millefiore glass pendants and paperweights have been produced by Murano artisans since the 19th century. The process uses multicolored glass canes or rods which are melted together to form the surface of a decorative object.