The Art of Glass Blowing - Coni Art Glass-Handmade Decorative Glassware and Home Accessories

Coni Art Glass-Handmade Decorative Glassware and Home Accessories
"The art of glass blowing was first performed in the Middle East along the Phoenician coast in 20 B.C. This new technology changed the way glass was used, from jewelry and ornamentation to necessities. Amazingly glass containers and other items of high quality blown glass (even window glass) were found in the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

Today glass blowing of vases and other objects of art, or accessories is still done in basically the same way as it was originally done in 20 B.C.. Glass blowers, called gaffers, use a hollow iron pipe usually about four feet long. The gaffer dips the pipe in the melted glass and rolls a small amount of the molten glass, called gather, on the end of the pipe. Then the gaffer rolls the gather against a paddle or metal plate to give it an initial shape (marvering). The gaffer blows into the pipe which creates a bubble (parison).

The gaffer can control the shape and thickness of the glass by reheating the parison at the furnace and shaping and blowing to create the final form. From wooden paddles with holes, to wet newspapers held in the hand, many tools are used to shape the glass. Shears are often used to cut the soft, hot glass. Additional gathers, sometimes in other colors, can be applied and shaped into stems, handles, and other decorative artwork, or useful parts. The hot item of glassware can be dipped into molten glass of another color (flashed), to add dimension and beauty to the piece. The gather is fixed opposite the blowpipe to a solid iron rod called a pontil. After the blowpipe is taken away, the gaffer can then shape and fire polish the open end of the new piece of glassware. When the pontil is taken off, the rough spot that is left (pontil mark) is removed by carefully grinding and polishing the spot."

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