I started looking for definitions of the word "latticino" because the word is used quite a lot and I've never been sure exactly what it means. I tried the online sources that I trust the most, first Barovier and Toso's online dictionary of glass terms, and then the Loschs' visual dictionary of glass techniques. No mention of latticino in either, I started looking through my Murano books, mostly by the big names, and no mention there, some 15 books in fact. Next, I checked Edward Schmid, Advanced Glassworking Technique, which is the best book I've seen for explaining techniques in a way that's helpful to glassblowers and collectors. For example, he has a great section on how the various types of filigrana are made.
I'll quote, "'Latticino' from Italian latte = milk. 'A style of cane using only white glass color often twisted creating a lattice effect," or so we thought... It's fiction ! For a long time Americans referred to all cane worked pieces incorrectly as 'latticino'. Filigrana is really what we're talking about. The only thing close to latticino is Lattimo - a style of white glass."
Schmid's observations matched my findings exactly. I did find latticino mentioned in one book, Murano Magic, by an American, Carl Gable. It's a useful book, but he's the least authoritative of the authors I looked at in terms of Murano techniques. The term they all use is filigrana, sometimes extending it to filigrana a ritortoli, the term first used in the 16th Century or zanfirico, the terms adopted in the 19th Century. The colours that are used have no effect on the terms used.
My conclusion? We should stop using the term latticino.
David