Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Italian bead maker Luigi Cattelan showcases at Rabbit & Rooster Beads in Carrollton

By Minnie Payne

Most jewelry makers are familiar with Italian bead maker Luigi Cattelan, whose rich heritage dates back almost 500 years ago to Murano, Italy.

Cattelan will be hosted at a reception by Rabbit & Rooster Beads, Carrollton, Feb. 21 from 7 – 9 p.m., and his beads will be available Feb. 21, 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Cattelan, 56, started to work in his father’s glass factory, Vetreria Artistica Cattelan in Murano, Italy, an island ten minutes from Venice, during summer school vacation at age 14. In 1966, at age 16, after finishing junior high, he took a permanent job in that same factory.

“It was typical for Muranese people to drop out of school between ages 14 and 16,” he said. “Even the big glass masters were working in the factory at a very young age.”

Cattelan’s partner/interpreter, “40-something”-year-old Nicole Anderson, explained that when a young man first starts to work in a factory, he performs simple tasks like preparing the work bench for the glass master. He finds the tools for the master; fetches a bucket of water for cooling the tools; heats long metal rods [punty rods] to pick up glass in the furnace; when the glass master finishes a piece of glass, he puts it in a knelling oven to cool.

“He [Luigi] was like an errand boy,” Anderson said.

The plant was closed during the month of August because working conditions were so unbearable due to hot weather, she said.

According to Cattelan, he worked 20 years as director of production for Societa’ Veneziana Conterie, a Murano glass factory founded in 1893 that produced chevron and seed beads which closed down in 1992 due to foreign competition.

“While working for Societa’ Veneziana Conterie, I started making beads on my own in 1984, “d/b/a Luigi Cattelan”, in my laboratory (shed) at home in the evening, using an oxygen and propane tank and a small torch,” he said. “When Societa’ Veneziana Conterie closed, I decided to devote all my time to my own company.

Anderson said that Cattelan has eight close friends and relatives who work for him.

“Luigi has a good friend who has a glass factory in which the two, along with a small crew of glass workers, pull glass rods together,” she said. “In one day they do 100 kilos of glass rods.”

Glass rods are cut into one inch pieces, Anderson said, then typically ground into an olive/round shape, and then polished.

“A bead maker can grind in many different shapes,” she said. “Someone who is good at the trade can grind the glass into shapes such as a dog bone, triangle, or pear.”

Cattelan makes other Venetian type beads, but he most enjoys making the chevron bead which he ships all over the world, Anderson said. He also makes blown glass beads, lampworked candy beads, and blows small perfume bottles and vessels.

“Bead making is something that I’ve always done; something that comes from my family,” said Cattelan. “Glass is something very natural for me to work with because I come from Murano and that’s where all the glass comes from.

“Because we have hundreds of years of experience, bead making is in our veins and bloodline.”

Cattelan and Anderson will bring over 1,000 pounds of beads and jewelry to Rabbit & Rooster, a sampling of which follows:

• Blown glass beads $6.50 each

• Glass pendants $25 - $65

• Venetian beads $5 - $10 per bead

• Special chevron beads $100 - $200

“We are extremely honored to be able to host such a well known and respected artist,” said Janet Fix, co-owner of Rabbit & Rooster. “This is a rare opportunity for the public to meet a living legend.”

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• Arts and Crafts

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