by Enrico Maria Davoli
Glass industry is one of the sectors of the arts where the convergence of creative flair and technical expertise, rigorous design, and masterful craftsmanship yields the most spectacular results. But it is also a field where market forces are relentless, technological evolution is ever-accelerating, and the dialogue with architecture and design is fraught with uncertainty. There is therefore a need to keep pace with the times without turning our backs on tradition, at the risk of losing its legacy. The questions posed to Beatrice Govoni, owner of Vetreria SAV in Pieve di Cento (BO), focus on these themes. A heartfelt thank you to Beatrice for her willingness to engage in a wide-ranging discussion about the opportunities and uncertainties of her work. The images accompanying the interview are taken from the SAV website: www.vetreriasav.com
As is traditional in the world of craftsmanship throughout the ages, you too began your career following in the footsteps of your family members. Could you tell us about those early days, including your educational background and training in general?
SAV Glassworks was founded in 1980 in Pieve di Cento (Bologna) as an artisan business specializing in flat glasswork and small carpentry projects. My father later joined the two founders, my mother and my paternal grandfather. My mother had prior experience working in an artisanal glassworks. My father, who had previously worked as a mechanical draftsman at VM Motori in Cento (Ferrara), had always nurtured a passion for painting. This passion was passed down to him by my grandfather, Evaristo Vincenzo Govoni, a well-known artist in the Bologna and Ferrara areas, as well as one of the official restorers of Guercino’s works. In short, the company became one of the leading firms in the sector in the province, later expanding its scope to the construction industry (production of double-pane glass) and trade show booths, with massive investments in machinery. As for me, like my grandfather and my father, I have always painted, but during my schooling I focused on studying foreign languages. I then abandoned my architecture studies to devote myself full-time to the company, where I have been working full-time since 1998.
Glassworking offers a vast array of technical possibilities. Among these, which ones best characterize your work?
Glass is an amorphous material that lends itself to many different processes. In addition to being cut, it can be fused and laminated, taking on a variety of forms. I learned to cut glass by hand with a diamond-tipped tool when I was fifteen, and I haven’t stopped since. Cutting and assembling the various pieces to give the glass a new, three-dimensional form is what I prefer, but painting also remains a passion. I gradually moved away from fusing, which I found unsatisfying in terms of manual dexterity: after all, it involves assembling pieces of glass with the same melting point and placing them in the kiln, resulting in a technically excellent piece but one that is creatively unfulfilling. I have also devoted myself to lead-coming and grisaille painting, another fascinating technique that I use primarily for the restoration of existing stained-glass windows. Unfortunately, since it is a slow and expensive process, there is no demand for creating new works from scratch. To this day, my favorite technique remains the Tiffany method, especially for creating lamps and decorative objects: from boxes to small movable stained-glass panels, from gift items to a myriad of other uses. Another classic technique I love to use is sandblasting, which allows me to create a porous design that is inherently very elegant, and onto which I can apply cold acrylic paint if desired. And since many sideboards from the 1940s and 1950s feature glass with sandblasted designs, the technique is also frequently used in restoration.
Is there a particular type of glass object, whether movable or fixed, freestanding or integrated into the architecture, that you like best, one with which you find it easiest to identify as an artist and – why not? – also as a user?
First, the lamps: I create them in various shapes and sizes, sometimes using glass mosaic tiles, which gives them a unique decorative appeal. Then there are interior doors, for which I conduct on-site visits to work with the client to determine what kind of decoration best meets their expectations. It’s a good opportunity to approach glass holistically, creating a pictorial image that positively interacts with those who live with and view it.
Glassworking techniques have played a significant role in the historical development of decorative styles. Is there a particular period or style in which, in your opinion, glass made a decisive contribution, standing out above other materials and techniques?
The historical and stylistic period I find most significant is the Late Middle Ages, with French Gothic stained glass that later spread throughout Europe. The multicolored stained-glass windows of churches, depicting sacred subjects or abstract-geometric motifs, evoke a parallel dimension where color uplifts the spirit. But the Venetian school also went through periods of extraordinary vitality. Personally, when I work on interior furnishings and interior doors, I find references to modernism – particularly Art Nouveau and Art Deco – particularly inspiring.
How would you describe your relationship with clients and customers in general, in terms of type, expectations, and economic and cultural background?
My approach is one of openness and attentiveness. I believe it is of fundamental importance to understand the client’s needs and offer appropriate solutions, and I strive to maintain a consistent approach regardless of the scope of the project I am commissioned to undertake. All of this is balanced against estimated costs: having the opportunity to use high-performance and consequently more expensive materials gives me greater freedom and control over the final result, especially with regard to its longevity. These days, the web complicates the overall vision I try to convey to the client. Images found on Instagram and other social media are often altered in terms of background and reflections, so the initial information the client assumes to be accurate often needs to be reviewed and corrected. Precisely for this reason, I rely primarily on sketches on paper and simulations on small glass panels to provide a credible preview of the color rendering and the final result to be expected. I carry out this part of the work in close collaboration with the client, and the subsequent steps – from the estimate to the agreement on the budget that will be made available to me – follow accordingly.
What can you say about your relationships with other professionals (architects, engineers, designers, artists) who involve you in their projects or with whom you find yourself working?
While direct contact with private clients is the most common scenario, I also find myself working with professionals, especially architects and interior designers, with whom I strive to find a balance between the project’s intended final outcome and the practical realities of construction. Over the years, I have learned to collaborate with site supervisors and to design based on their input, keeping a realistic approach. For example, when I need to calculate the weight of a door, including its metal components, and determine whether the wall has a structure capable of supporting it over the years.
What is your assessment of the state of artisanal glassmaking in Italy and its future prospects?
In Italy, the artisan sector is going through a very delicate phase. As far as the glassware industry is concerned, large-scale production, with its low prices and poor quality, is attracting an ever-increasing number of consumers. Over the past twenty years, many artisanal glassworks have seen their turnover drop dramatically and have been forced to close. Appreciation for artisanal production and the uniqueness of its products is on the decline, and we must rekindle it without shying away from the challenge posed by the technologically more advanced industrial sector. There are still some excellent examples of Venetian craftsmanship, and here and there are workshops where artisans experiment with mixtures and combinations of colors, glazes, and precious mineral pigments, such as gold. Then there is the new frontier of dichroic lamination, which gives glass pearlescent and iridescent reflections. It is a chemical process (already found in ancient examples such as the Lycurgus Cup in the British Museum) that I greatly appreciate, as it is applicable in the fields of stained glass, jewelry, and interior design elements
Are there any areas of the glass industry where you’d like to get involved and contribute your ideas?
I would love to collaborate with industrial glass manufacturers, giving customers the option, for example, to purchase a product with a pre-designed pattern and then customize it by hand. The current widespread use of glass panels combined with wood or metal to brighten up spaces lends itself perfectly to the addition of touches of color or custom engravings. Everything can be customized, from entry gates to shower enclosures, from tables to mirrors.
Have you ever considered collaborating with specialists in architectural decoration and interior design to implement patterns specifically designed for contemporary ornamental design?
That’s a very interesting question. Myself and other retired glassmakers, who possess hundreds of transparencies featuring designs created with a ruler, set square, and pencil, in the traditional style, are digitizing many of these materials to create reusable patterns for large-scale production. At the moment, the main market is Russia, but the Middle East is also showing interest. It takes weeks to digitize a complex design with intricate ornamentation, and it’s not easy to find people capable of doing it independently. In this regard, we’re exploring an approach using artificial intelligence. I’m passionate about this because we’re dealing with a graphic heritage that risks disappearing forever, given the wear and tear on the original pencils and papers. I hope that Italy, too, will come to fully realize this, so that we can preserve a legacy of creativity and dedication that we must, in fact, revitalize.
Homepage: Beatrice Govoni/Vetreria SAV, lead-cased glass. Below: Beatrice Govoni/Vetreria SAV, sandblasting.
