While back painted glass is definitely one of the most modern uses & incarnations of glass, the creation & manipulation of glass has been around for thousands of years. Over then next few weeks we’ll be going over some of the techniques used by through out history to create this beautiful material we know as glass.
Core forming was one of the earliest methods used by glass makers to make glass objects & items. The underlining concept behind technique was that a shaped “core,” dipped in molten glass, could be used to give a basic form to the cooling glass & thus create a void for storage purposes. These cores were most likely made of a material like clay or animal manure that could be baked & chipped away from the cooled glass leaving a useful vessel.
Another interesting technique used by early glass makers was Casting, in which powdered glass particles were poured into a mold, as with core forming this mold was most likely 2 pieces of clay. As the powder melted more would be continuously added until the mold was full. Upon cooling the cast would be opened revealing a solid, formed glass object. If this object were to become a usable vessel it would then need to be drilled out.
Be sure to check back next week for more information & if you’d like to learn more about glass be sure to check out the resources available at the Corning Musem of Glass & The British Museum.