Glass Blowing Essay

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Glass Blowing Glass is one of the oldest forms of art. It dates back to about 3500 years ago. Some of the oldest glass on record dates back to the pre-Roman times. Solid beads and amulets have been found which were made in the year 2500 BC. Even though glass has been in existence for thousands of years, it wasn’t always considered an art as it is today. Its uses, for the most part, have been in functional pieces. During the pre-Roman times, glassmakers were making vessels, but glass blowing had not yet been invented. The vessel was made by wrapping hot glass around a core made of clay and dung. Sometimes the glassmaker would add color after the first clear layer was in place. After the glass cooled the core could be picked out. Some of the earliest vessels date back to 1500 BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During that time glass was not yet a common household object. Few people knew how to make glass, and only the pharaohs, high priests and nobles owned it. Both Middle Easterners and Egyptians were making mosaics out of glass. They would fuse rods of colored glass together to make a pattern. The resulting larger rod would then be heated and pulled out, causing the design to become smaller. Afterwards it was sliced and arranged into a mosaic. Preparation: Glass blowing is primarily made possible by the use of several extremely hot furnaces, one known as a glory hole and another that is used for melting the raw glass. The glass is turned and formed on turning pipes that have hollow cores that allow for blowing the glass. These pipes must be heated prior to the start of the project so as to collect the molten glass effectively. Proper shielding and pipe rests are also needed due to the extreme heat of the glory hole and are adjusted by the team for the project at hand. The team ensures that there is large amount of wet paper and moist wood blocks for the

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