The company is one of the
oldest family businesses in the world, with roots going back to 1295 as
Barovier. The name Barovier derives from the term berroviere (highwayman/policeman), which indicates the armigero (person entitled to bear arms) guarding the captain of the people. It is probable that some Barovier, originally from Treviso, settled in
Murano around 1291, when a law of the Republic imposed the concentration on the island of all glass furnaces." Jacobello was the first member of the Barovier family to work glass at this time. It is thought that the company originated in
Treviso. The Toso family had been established in Murano since around 1350. In the 1400s
Angelo Barovier created glass objects which are currently preserved in various museums. In 1919–1920, 30 year old designer Ercole Barovier began a 50-year career as the artistic director of Barovier & Toso. While Barovier did not have formal training as a
glassblower, his artistic designs produced objets d'art that have become the most critically acclaimed in the history of Ercole - Barovier. In 1930 he produced his award-winning “Primavera” series."The
Primavera series ... is distinguished by a milky white
craquelé glass with the addition of black or blue
pasta vitrea trim ("opaque colored glass whose consistency is made to appear like ceramic") and decoration. There was a very limited production of this series because it was a result of a glass mixture obtained accidentally so it could never be replicated." One example of this series, a Primavera Pigeon, was sold at auction for GBP 275,000 (approximately $360,000 USD, not inclusive of the buyer’s premium) on October 16, 2019. , purchased from Barovier & Toso in 1962 by the
Swiss Confederation. This vase was a dual ‘layer’ vase. This type of vase is sometimes referred to as 'cased'. “Cased glass combines glass layers of contrasting color, or a colored layer blown with a clear one. The interior layer is, in effect, encased in the exterior … Looking into the interior of a cased object will reveal a color different than that of the exterior. One of the first known examples of cased glass, the
Portland Vase, dates from the reign of Roman emperor
Caesar Augustus.” The first outer layer of the Lenti vase consisted of a series of clear thick convex semi-globular forms in which small thin leaves of pure gold are suspended. The inner thin layer of the vase was made of a brightly colored glass. The clear outer portion of the vase reflects the color of the inner vase while creating an
optical illusion (due to the magnification effect of the convex shaped glass) of large ‘moving’ gold leaves. This series was produced in colors that vary and include cerulean blue, aqua blue, emerald green, lime green and crimson red. ==Innovations==