A blow pipe is placed in a large
furnace and slowly turned to pick up or
“gather” the molten glass, which has the
consistency of thick honey. Then, the glass is placed in frit, crushed up glass mixed with color oxides, and turned to pick up the color (above.) Next, the glass with frit is placed in a heating chamber called a glory hole in order to fuse the color into the glass. Three coats of frit were put on this particular pitcher, but that may vary with each piece of glass.
Next, the glass is rolled on a steel table called a
marver, which shapes the glass and cools the surface to help control its drippy texture. Then, the glassblower blows into the blowpipe to make a small air bubble. Next, a
second layer of molten glass is put on the glass bubble and it is rolled in a wooden shaping block (above) to keep an even layer of glass on the bubble. Then, it is put back into the glory hole to keep hot for the next step.
The soft workable glass is then placed into a mold called an optic mold. The glassblower lightly blows into the pipe to fill the mold with glass. The glass takes on the shape and decorative pattern of the mold. Then, the glass is put back into the glory hole to keep it workable for the next step.
The glass is put into another mold called a full size blow mold and closed by an assistant. The
glassblower blows into the pipe and turns to fill
the mold evenly.
Next, an assistant gathers a small amount of molten glass in the furnace with a solid iron rod called a punty, and attaches it to the bottom of the pitcher. A file is used to score the glass and break it off of the blowpipe. Then, the lip of the pitcher is thinned with tweezers and trimming shears are used to cut off the uneven lip. Then, the molded glass is put into the glory hole again.
The top of the pitcher is shaped and flared open with a tool called jacks.
More molten glass is picked up with a blowpipe from the furnace for the handle of the pitcher. The bubble is held above the pitcher and dripped on like thick honey. Then, the glassblower gracefully pulls the glass up and over with a pair of tweezers and delicately turns the end up. A graphite rod is also used to finish shaping the curved handle.
The glass must be cooled in
a very slow process, called annealing, to relieve stresses and prevent cracking and breakage. The glass is brought to a common
temperature of 920° to 930° and held at that
temperature. The oven cools down gradually overnight, and the pitcher can be
taken out the next morning.
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