‘Idra’, table lamp in Murano glass by Rossana Toso for Leucos, 1980

Rosanna Toso was born on June 27, 1941, in Murano. She is a descendant of one of the founders of the Fratelli Toso glassworks, founded in 1854. It was there that she began her career as a glass designer and artist in 1964. In 1973, she became artistic director, becoming the first woman to hold a management role in a company that until then had always been dominated by the men of the family. Her areas of expertise included interior lighting (designing also for the Leucos company, founded in1969 by Renato Toso, another descendant of the Toso family), tableware, and objets d'art, all projects that fit seamlessly into the youthful and modern production of Fratelli Toso at the time. At the beginning of her career, she followed a traditional style, creating, for example, murrina lace. In her later career, however, in search of new lines and working techniques, she favored lighter designs and essential forms in crystal, characterized by the use of black or white, reflecting the trends of the 1960s and 1970s. She never stops experimenting and creating unique pieces, designed to be produced in limited quantities. Rosanna Toso works by hand-engraving, decorating, and designing murrine that recall the great classics of Fratelli Toso, albeit with a completely new, modern, and contemporary approach. Rosanna Toso died in Murano in 2001.