Glass Fish
Colorful mouth-blown glass fish were a must have in Romanian households up until the late 80’s. Manufacturing started long before this date and took place mostly in two factories founded in the 1800’s. One of the two factories was implanted by a German interpreneur, but both owed a lot to Murano glass techneques that are said to have been imported to Romania by a Venetian master glass blower. Glass fish became particularly fashionable when the first TV sets started appearing in private homes in the 50’s. Early cathod ray TV’s were finished in wood and appeared as an empty shelf to their owners, specially when shut off. Decorating them with a glass fish (surmounting a white doily that prevented it from scratching the TV its self) was not seen as kitsch. On the contrary the fact that the screen was made of glass made this choice particularly coehrent and philological. Older specimens often present a mirrored surface and a sharply edged mouth. Color and size range are both very wide with length ranging from 20 to 60 cm.