#glassmaking

Object of the Week: Vessel Shaped Like Bird, possibly Switzerland or Northern Italy, 25-99. 66.1.223. 

This delicate glass bird once held a powdered cosmetic or liquid perfume. It was made soon after glassblowing was created and glassblowers could make more elaborate, sculptural forms. The vessel was used only once; the user snapped the end of the tail off to remove the precious contents inside the bird.

Object of the Week: Incandescent Light Bulb in Display Case, Joseph Swan (maker), London, England, about 1877. 2018.8.6. 

The incandescent light bulb was not invented by a single person. One of the early makers of light bulbs was Joseph Swan, who received a patent in 1860 for a low-quality, brief-lifetime incandescent light bulb. He improved this initial design in 1875 and 1880 by fabricating a carbonized thread filament and improving the vacuum in the bulb. The early date of this bulb identifies it as one of the world’s oldest surviving examples of the light bulb.

Object of the Week: Aventurine Gourd Vase, possibly Salviati Dott (maker), possibly Compagnie di Vetri e Mosaici de Venezia e Murano (maker), Venice, Italy, about 1880. Bequest of Jean-Claude Ziegler. 2017.3.5. 

This glittering gourd vase perfectly evokes the feeling of fall! It gets its unique sparkle from aventurine glass, which is made of gold, copper, or chromic oxide inclusions. The Museum will be closed tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day and will reopen on Friday, November 27. 

It’s been a long, long time, but Scooter the rocket dog is out of the annealer! Want to see your design in glass? Submit your idea for our next You Design It; We Make It! livestream on December 2.

Chris Rochelle’s spectacular air-twist stem goblets from Wednesday’s Bring the Heat demonstration are out of the annealer!

Harvey K. Littleton, one of the pioneers of the American Studio Glass movement, grew up in Corning, NY where his father worked as a scientist for Corning Incorporated. Littleton also pioneered vitreography, which involves using glass to make prints on paper. In this vitreograph, you can see the Fallbrook glass factory that used to be on Tioga Avenue in Corning, NY.  

Fallbrook [art original], Harvey K. Littleton, 1993. CMGL 126582.

Yesterday, Chris Rochelle made two air-twist stem goblets with assistance from Tom Ryder, Catherine Ayers, and Kyle Landin. Stay tuned for when these goblets come out of the annealer!

Object of the Week: Medallion with Portrait, probably Rome, about 300 CE. Purchased in part with funds from the Clara S. Peck Endowment Fund. 90.1.3. 

Only about two dozen gold-glass medallions like this one have survived. To make this emblem, the artist glued a sheet of thin gold foil to a flat piece of blue glass and scratched away the background with a stylus. Next, the glassworker heated the decorated disk to about 900 degrees F, any hotter and the gold would have burned away. Once heated, it was picked up on the end of a blown glass bubble, sandwiching the gold between two layers of glass.

We’re ready for Halloween at the Rakow Library! Local glassmaker Frederick Carder sent this delightfully spooky postcard to his son, Cyril, for Halloween 1916. Postcard from Frederick Carder to Cyril Carder, 1916. Frederick Carder Papers. MS0017.  

Cat Burns brought the heat and made some GIANT Unity Pumpkins yesterday assisted by Chris Giordano, Helen Tegeler, George Kennard, Kyle Landin, and Catherine Ayers! These pumpkins will be available for purchase through The Shops, so stay tuned for when they come out of the annealer.

Sometimes hot glass is not the final creation. Ann Gant uses pyrography, paper burned by glass, to create a “vessel” with two handles on cotton rag paper. The hot glass is used as a stamp by pressing onto wet paper to make imprints that can never be reproduced again, as the glass is discarded after making its distinctive mark.

Drawing #3 [art original], Anne Gant, 2010. CMGL 115957.

This Object of the Week comes courtesy of our Teen Leadership Council. One of the Museum’s most recognized pieces, Chihuly’s Fern Green Tower, can be seen glowing in the night, welcoming every visitor. Dale Chihuly, known for his contemporary art & design, specially designed this piece consisting of 712 citron colored branches. When asked about this piece, our teens said “When I was little, I always loved looking at this piece and thinking how cool it was" and “I love the citron colors especially when it is glowing a neon color during the night.“ 

Fern Green Tower, Dale Chihuly, Seattle, WA, made in 1999, reconfigured in 2013. © Dale Chihuly. Gift of the Artist. 2000.4.6.

Inspired by Kurt Wallstab’s signature flameworked wig-wag style, George Kennard and the team made a vessel with eight incalmo parts during yesterday’s Bring the Heat demonstration. If George’s piece makes it through the annealing process, it’ll be available through The Shops. 

The brilliant red and orange hues of this Favrile “Cypriote” Vase perfectly evoke the changing leaves in the fall. This vase, produced by Tiffany Studios, is inscribed “Special Exhibit” on its base, signifying that it was an outstanding example selected for exhibition. See more of Tiffany Studios’ work on view in our refreshed “Tiffany Studios” gallery of our 35 Centuries of Glass Galleries. 

Favrile “Cypriote” Vase, Louis Comfort Tiffany (artistic director), Tiffany Furnaces and Tiffany Studios (manufacturer), Corona, NY, about 1915. Gift of Jay and Micki Doros. 2019.4.164.

Object of the Week: Set of 24 Gold Dessert Knives with Reverse-Gilded Glass Handles, Pierre Bizos (maker), probably Antonine Rascalon (maker), possibly Martin-Guillaume Biennais (maker), Paris, France, 1805-1810. Purchased in part with funds from Dwight and Lorri Lanmon. 2018.3.1. 

These knives could be used to serve and eat a slice of your favorite dessert today for National Dessert Day. The gold scenes on the glass knife handles were inspired by popular artworks of the time, including Napoleonic battle scenes.

All hands were on deck yesterday as Chris Rochelle brought Kexlee’s hot cocoa goblet to life in the Amphitheater Hot Shop! Kexlee was even in the audience to watch as Chris, Katie Hubbs, Kyle Landin, and Jeff Mack all worked together to make her design.

Jeff Mack’s masterful Guggenheim Cup for our Bring the Heat demo series is now available on YouTube!

Object of the Week: 108 Meditations in Saffron, David K. Chatt, Seattle, WA, 2006. 2010.4.125. 

A parakeet bell, a Tootsie Roll wrapper, a syringe: the story of “Meditations in Saffron” begins in 2006 when David Chatt started walking through different Seattle neighborhoods. Initially, he was irked by the sight of the discarded things people left behind, but through the meditative process of beading, he came to see these objects not as trash, but rather as traces of human life.

Tune in Wednesday at 10am for our You Design It; We Make It! live stream! Kexlee G., age 9, designed a hot cocoa goblet that gaffer Chris Rochelle will bring to life. “This is my hot cocoa goblet complete with mini marshmallows, pretty pink straw, and mini marshmallows ladder. They all have super cute eyes to add to the "aww” factor!,“ says Kexlee.

We’re celebrating World Architecture Day with a look at some of the buildings where Steuben Glass was used as an important architectural element. In the 1920s and 1930s, you could find custom-designed cast Steuben panels in the Empire State Building’s lobby, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, John Wanamaker’s department store in Manhattan, and even the exterior of the New Syracuse Lighting Company Building in Syracuse, NY. The firm used these major projects to advertise their services in a catalog titled “Steuben Architectural Cast Glass,” which you can see via the Rakow Library. 

Steuben architectural cast glass, Corning Glass Works, Steuben Division, Corning, NY, ca. 1925. CMGL 139214.