About

Ochre is excited to launch their new lighting collection, handcrafted by the masters of glassmaking on the Venetian island of Murano.

Sometimes inspirations are profound in their subtlety. Daily sightings of the ebb and flow of tides in Venice’s canals became embedded in the imaginations of Ochre’s founders on a visit to Venice over five years ago. The volumes of water, the ever-changing hues and the deep tidal marks on gondola mooring poles began to distil into a new creative venture called ‘Marea’. 

Each pendant has a distinct personality. The marea features a trio of layered tones composed in precise ratios to enhance the form. The refracted light, intensified by an ingenious and barely visible internal brass spiral. The clochette features a floating canopy speckled with silver and clutching a pod beneath. They are unique, delicate and ultimately mesmerising. When switched on, reflections gently wave and spin across the interior architecture of a room, echoing the movement of water. When off, ripples gently radiate.

The research and development behind Marea involved intense education and experimentation, with the Ochre team meeting specialist glass-blowing studios across the island of Murano.

Over the centuries in Murano, numerous specialist techniques emerged including cristallo (clear); lattino (milky) and murrino (mosaic), helping further the exceptional reputation of Venetian glass against a growing tide of competitors in Bohemia and France. Indeed, Murano glass connoisseurship became a prerequisite in cultured circles, with collectors seeking ever more rarefied artefacts, with lighting and chandeliers being the most prized.

Today, each glassmaking studio, often run by successive generations, continues to uphold a signature technique and aesthetic, yet quality can vary wildly. Ochre found its match in a niche maker (one of the few to employ women glassblowers) that is able to create works of extraordinary clarity and is also highly sensitive to Ochre’s nuanced colour palettes.

The myriad of skills across each glassblowing team come together in the final creations, with each pendant possessing a unique identity. These works of art are a tribute to Murano artistry, the timeless spirit of Ochre and the wonder that is Venice.