I am trying to draw people's attention on Altare, the other
great glassmaking center in Italy, active from the 10th Century
to about 1975. Altare is a small town located on the hills near
Savona, in the Ligurian Apennines. It was chosen by early
glassmakers as an ideal outpost for glass production because of
its rich forests and favorable geographical placing. Production
started in a series of family-owned crucibles, managed
officially by a corporation or guild which controlled the
secrets of the art and all its intricacies. However, unlike the
Venetians, the Altarese were partially free of emigrating
abroad. This provided a relief valve for large families and
export crises, which were recurrent throughout history as much
as they are now. However, the hemorrhagic loss of know how was
to be detrimental to the small glassmaking center, as more and
more Altarese implanted successful factories in France, Germany,
England, Scotland, the Flanders and the Low Countries. For
instance, it was apparently an Altarese wh