Antonio Salviati
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Antonio Salviati (March 18, 1816 - January 25, 1890) was an Italian glass manufacturer.
A native of Vicenza, Salviati was a lawyer who got interested in glasswork after becoming involved in restorations being done on the mosaics of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice. He opened his first glass business in 1859 with Lorenzo Radi, and this firm produced the mosaic glass for the altar screen for the high altar of Westminster Abbey. In 1876, he left this business to establish a new firm.
Murano had been a center of fine glasswork since the Middle Ages, but the pieces were lavish and expensive specialty pieces that only the wealthy could afford. Salviati changed the face of the business by becoming the first glass factory owner to employ a large number of skilled workers to mass produce glass intended for export. This reestablished Murano as a center of glass manufacturing.
Salviati died at Vicenza.
